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1 ALL-NIGHT VIgil AND LITURGY Explanation of church services. ALL-NIGHT VIgil...1 AND LITURGY Explanation of church services...1 ABOUT THE TEMPLE...2 ABOUT ALL-NIGHT VIgil...4 BRIEF CHART OF THE ALL-NIGHT VIgil...14 BRIEF CHART OF THE HOURS...16 ABOUT THE DIVINE LITURGY ...19 BRIEF CHART OF THE LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM...36

2 ABOUT THE TEMPLE The Book of the Acts of the Apostles tells that Christians “continued with one accord every day in the temple... praising God and being in favor with all the people” (2, 46-47). The temple is the house of God, the house of prayer (Luke 19:46). It differs from other buildings on earth in that it is consecrated by Divine grace 1 and sacred prayers; in it “everything is holy, everything is effective, heals and saves by grace” 2. Christian churches mostly have the appearance of a ship or a cross and are divided into three parts: the vestibule, the middle part and the altar. The altar represents the Holy of Holies, which is above Heaven, and Heaven. In the middle of the altar, the throne on which at each liturgy the Bloodless Sacrifice is offered to God and the prayers of the earthly Church are raised to the High Throne, is the Tomb of Christ. The altar part is separated by the iconostasis by a partition formed by several rows of icons. The iconostasis is the border between the visible and invisible worlds. He is the appearance of saints and angels. The iconostasis does not hide the altar from those praying in the temple, but reveals the secrets of the altar, indicates the entrance to another world 3. The beauty of the decoration of the temple reveals the splendor of the Heavenly, Paradise abodes, as well as the inner, spiritual beauty of a person who has accepted the grace of God (1 Cor. 3:16) . Divine services are performed by clergy. The priest represents the image of Christ and performs sacred rites with the power and grace of God. The bishop ordains the priest 4 and thereby imparts to him the grace of the priesthood necessary for performing sacred rites, “the power and strength of the Creator,” and through Christ hands him the spiritual “keys of heaven” 5. The priest gives people from God every sacred thing necessary for perfection in spiritual life. Priests dress in sacred robes to perform divine services. Of particular importance are the epitrachelion, the image of the perfecting grace of the Holy Spirit, as well as the symbol of the yoke, the good yoke of service (Matthew 11:30), and the phelonion, the image of the gracious power and glory of the Divine, also marks the scarlet, the royal robe, in which the torturers mockingly clothed Christ in time of suffering (Matt. 27, 28 31). (The bishop's sakkos has the same symbolic meaning.) Place the bonds of Christ on your hands. Deacon (from Greek servant) a minister (assistant) during the sacraments, “brings, announces and invites to begin, but does not perform” the sacraments 6. The deacon has an angelic rank, his orarion (a wide ribbon hung over the shoulder) “represents, as it were, wings” 7, the surplice resembles the clothing of angels. Readers and choir singers perform a special service in the church. The reading in the temple is reverent and close in melody to singing. “Music not only accompanies worship, it brings a person closer to God, promotes “heavenly ascent”” 8. Singing “a ladder for fear of torment and repentance, a bridle for sin, instruction for lusts, elevation of the mind” 9. The tradition of Christian singing is sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Gospel says that the Lord and His apostles after the Last Supper, having sung, went to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30). 1 Grace is the saving power of God, the Divine energy necessary for a person to improve in spiritual and moral life. 2 Works of the blessed one. Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Conversation about holy rites and church sacraments. Ch. 96 // Scriptures of St. fathers and teachers of the Church related to the interpretation of Orthodox worship. Part 2. St. Petersburg, 1856 [reprint: M., 1994]. C See: Florensky P. A. Iconostasis. M., S. Bishop (Greek overseer), the bishop is the chief shepherd in his diocese, caring for the well-being of the Holy Church and governing the entire community of believers entrusted to him by God, as can be seen from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles (20, 28-30); 1 Pet. 5, 2, 3; 1 Tim. 3, 1-7; Titus 1, Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Quote op. Ch. 5. With Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Quote op. Chapter S Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Quote op. Chapter C Musical aesthetics of Russia XI-XVIII centuries. M, S Musical aesthetics of Russia XI-XVIII centuries. M, S. 19.

3 The lighting of candles and lamps has a special symbolic meaning in the Christian Church. Not a single Christian service can be performed without lit candles. Orthodox people, visiting the temple of God and entering into inner, prayerful unity with the Lord, His Most Pure Mother and the saints, light candles in front of their icons. A candle burning in front of an icon is a sign of our faith and hope for God’s gracious help, always abundantly sent to all who flow with faith and prayer to the Lord and His saints. A lit candle is a symbol of our flaming and grateful love for God. Man is a spiritual and at the same time a sensual being, therefore in the temple there are many material objects that have a spiritual meaning and purpose. In Heaven, everything happens invisible to sensual eyes, but on earth through visible symbolic actions, because we are clothed with corruptible flesh and our mind cannot yet accommodate or understand the meaning of Heavenly mysteries. Worship is an expression of our faith, hope, love and reverence for God. The gathering of believers of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27) in the temple for joint prayer unites them and makes them one family. Here our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sacraments, the main of which is Holy Communion, nourishes His faithful followers with gifts of grace, giving them the fullness of life in abundance (John 10:10). Divine services teach us righteous life, indicate the path we must follow to salvation. During the service, the entire earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ passes before our eyes in images, from His birth to His ascension to Heaven, and the life and deeds of the saints are also narrated. Listening to the teaching of the Gospel, readings and chants, we assimilate the spiritual experience of the Church in order to make it our own experience through self-improvement and good deeds in this connection to the life of the Church. And then our faith comes to life, becomes experienced faith, knowledge of God, and bears saving fruits. On the way to church, there is a custom to read the prayer: I will enter Your house, I will bow to Your holy temple in Your passion. Lord, instruct me in Thy righteousness, for the sake of my enemy, straighten my path before You: for there is no truth in their mouths, their heart is vain, their throat is open, their tongues are flattering. Judge for them, O God, that they may fall away from their thoughts; for the multitude of their wickedness, I will rid them of them, for I have grieved Thee, O Lord. And let all who trust in Thee rejoice, rejoice forever, and dwell in them, and let those who love Thy Name boast in Thee. For You bless the righteous. Lord, how you have crowned us with weapons of favor. In addition to this prayer, you can read the troparion, kontakion and other chants of the service of a given day, the 50th and 90th psalms, and remember the sacred events that the Church celebrates on a given day. One must enter the church quietly and reverently, as into the house of God, into the mysterious dwelling of the Heavenly King. Noise, conversations, and even more so laughter when entering a church and staying in it insult the holiness of the temple of God and the greatness of the God who dwells in it. Upon entering the temple, you should stop near the door and make three bows with prayers: God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Bow. God, cleanse me, a sinner, and have mercy on me. Bow. Lord, who created me, forgive me! Bow. When accepting the blessing of a priest or bishop, Christians fold their palms crosswise, placing the right on the left, and kiss the right hand of the blessing, but do not cross themselves before doing this. When applying (kissing) the Holy Gospel, the Cross, holy relics and icons, one should approach in the proper order, slowly and without crowding, make two bows before kissing and one after kissing the shrine. When venerating icons of the Savior, the Mother of God and saints, one should not kiss their faces. An icon may depict several sacred persons, but the icon must be kissed once, so that when worshipers gather, they do not detain others and thereby disturb the decorum of the church.

4 ABOUT THE ALL-NIGHT VIgil All-night vigils were celebrated in the very first centuries of Christianity. The Lord Jesus Christ himself often devoted the night hours to prayer (Matthew 14:23; etc.). “Watch and pray,” the Savior said to the apostles, so as not to fall into temptation” 10 (Matthew 26:41). And the apostles gathered at night to pray (see, for example, Acts 20:7; 25). During the era of persecution, Christians also held services at night. Saint Basil the Great (IV century) in his writings about all-night services writes: “Our people stay awake in church in labor, in sorrow and in tearful contrition, confessing to God, and, having risen from prayers, begin psalmody... already at dawn day, all together, as if with one mouth and one heart, they lift up a psalm of confession to the Lord...” 11. Saint John Chrysostom also praised his flock (407): “You do not know day and night, but you turn both times into day, not changing the air, but enlightening the nights with all-night vigils. You have nights without sleep, and the power of sleep has ceased, since love for Christ has overcome the weakness of nature... You have rejected hatred, removed base passions, instilled virtues, had the strength to spend the whole night in sacred vigil...” 12. Night services, which St. Basil the Great calls in Greek “agrypnia,” that is, “sleepless”, were, according to him, widespread in the East, performed on Sundays throughout the year, on Holy Easter night, on the feast of the Epiphany and on memorial days holy martyrs 13. The Easter service in the ancient Jerusalem Church was dedicated to the memories of the events of the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ 14. Prayers and reading of the Holy Scriptures telling about one or another gospel event took place in the historical places where they took place, and Christians, listening to the word God, became, as it were, eyewitnesses of these events. Subsequently, all-night services began to precede other solemn church holidays. But the tradition of celebrating Easter in Jerusalem in the first centuries, when Christians became, as it were, witnesses to the remembered sacred events, took root and was consistently developed by the authors of the Rite of the All-Night Vigil. Thanks to their liturgical creativity, the all-night vigil helps us spiritually experience the events of sacred history. The great prayer-book holy fathers worked on compiling the rite of the all-night vigil: Saints Chariton the Confessor and Savva the Sanctified, Saints John Chrysostom and Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, Saint John of Damascus. The All-Night Vigil combines Great Vespers with Litia and blessing of the loaves, Matins and the first hour. The deep theological content, the moral and edifying nature of the readings and chants of the service, and the wealth of artistic and musical content developed over centuries make the all-night vigil a treasury of Orthodox worship. The drama of the experience of the all-night service and its prayerful spirit prepare the Christian to put aside all earthly concerns and begin the Divine Liturgy with dignity, with a clear conscience and reverence. At the all-night service there is a gospel signal: first on the big bell, then on all the bells in a festive manner. During the ringing, it is customary to read the 50th Psalm or Creed. The all-night vigil usually begins at 6 pm on Great Vespers. Vespers reflects the history of the Church of God in Old Testament times and shows that the Old Testament has its logical conclusion in the New Testament. 10 Temptation (test) here in the sense of the deception of the devil. 11 Saint Basil the Great. Letter 199 [= epist.207, 3] // Creations. T. 3. St. Petersburg, p. 238, St. John Chrysostom. Conversation after the earthquake // Creations in Russian translation. T. 2. Book. 2. St. Petersburg, 1896 [reprint: M., 1994]. P. 760, Uspensky N.D. The rite of the all-night vigil in the Orthodox East and in the Russian Church // “Theological Works”, collection. 18. M., S. Uspensky N.D. The rite of the all-night vigil in the Orthodox East and in the Russian Church // “Theological Works”, collection. 18. M., p. 14.

5 The general theological idea of ​​Vespers is the salvation of humanity in the Old Testament, through faith in the coming Messiah, the Savior of the world promised by God (Gen. 3:15). The rite of Vespers was formed under the influence of the liturgy, so they have many similar elements. At the liturgy, the Lord, through the hands of the priest, offers Himself as a Bloodless Sacrifice, at Vespers, a spiritual, prayerful, thanksgiving offering to God. Before the beginning of Vespers, the royal doors are opened and the clergy perform incense on the altar, which signifies the Divine grace that filled Paradise and the blissful stay of the ancestors in it 15. Then the deacon calls on Christians to stand before the start of the service with the exclamation Arise! (in ancient times they sat in churches) and asks for the blessing of the primate at the beginning of the service. The priest, standing before the throne in the altar, pronounces not the usual exclamation of Vespers, Blessed be our God always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages, by which the Old Testament knowledge of man about God is confessed, but he theologizes in the grace of the New Testament, glorifying the Holy Trinity: Glory of the Holy Ones, Consubstantial , Life-giving and Indivisible Trinity, always, now and ever and unto ages of ages. The choir sings: Amen. The word “amen” translated from Hebrew means: “truly,” “so be it.” It serves as confirmation of what was said, and Blessed Jerome calls it “the seal of prayers.” Then the clergy in the altar (or choir) sing: Come, let us worship, calling for the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Creator King and Ruler of the visible and invisible world (John 1:3; Rev. 1:5). The entire temple is censed as a sign of the Holy Spirit, Who, as the Bible tells us, “move over the waters” at the creation of the world (Gen. 1, 2). By censing, honor is given to icons and all shrines, and the sanctifying grace of God is invoked on the people ahead. Burning incense is the oldest Christian liturgical custom. It is carried out in the likeness of the Heavenly Church and according to the example of the Old Testament Church (Ex. 30, 1, 7-9). In Revelation, the holy Apostle John the Theologian saw an angel who stood before the Heavenly Altar, holding a golden censer, and a lot of incense was given to him (Rev. 8:3-4). Choir 16 sings the 103rd Psalm: Bless, my soul, the Lord, who is called the beginning in the Rule, for it tells about God’s creation of the world, and also because Vespers begins the daily liturgical cycle. The psalm glorifies God the Creator, expresses admiration and surprise at the splendor of creation, heavenly and earthly, visible and invisible. All creation is obedient to the Creator and maintains the limits set by God, that is, all created things live according to the laws given to them by the Creator at the creation of the world. This psalm is a solemn song of joyful harmony, the harmony of spiritual and physical existence, the Creator and His creation, the bliss that man experienced in Paradise. But man listened to the advice of the devil (Gen. 3:1-4), committed the sin of not preserving the moral law given by God for his correct spiritual development, and deprived himself of heavenly stay (Gen. 2:3). The crime of the ancestors of the moral law deeply distorted the essence of human nature and led to their loss of grace-filled communication, connection with God, the Source and Foundation of truth, goodness, love and moral purity. The consequence of the Fall and the falling away from God was the moral corruption of the descendants of Adam and Eve. The Holy Bible on its pages talks about this as the bitter experience of a person who has lost God and rushed after the deceptive sweetness of sin (Gen. 6:5). Like the doors of heaven, the royal gates close. The ancestors expelled from Paradise, deprived of communication with God, were subjected to illness, need and suffering, spiritual and physical. Repentance and prayer for help to the All-Good God accompanied the difficulties and sorrows of their earthly life. And like the first parents Adam and Eve who realized their sin, the Church prays to God for forgiveness and pronounces a great, peaceful litany. The Great Litany is necessarily the prayer of the entire Church, asking for Divine help to sinful man in the various needs of his earthly life. Litany in Greek 15 of Adam and Eve. 16 The choir is also called the choir, i.e. from Greek. meeting.

6 zeal, prolonged prayer. According to the content of the petitions, the litanies are mainly as follows: aggravated, that is, intensified prayer, containing petitions for persons; petition, including requests for needs without specifying persons; great, or peaceful, in which the content of the petitions of both litanies is combined; small, consisting of several petitions of the great. The great litany begins with a call to pray in peace, that is, in a peaceful spirit and unanimity, reconciling with neighbors and enemies, asking God for right faith, a peaceful and clear conscience. The last in the litany are petitions for those praying themselves, for deliverance from all sorrow, anger and need, and also the intervening, saving, merciful and preserving grace of God is called upon those praying, leading the faithful children of the Church into the eternal Kingdom of Glory. For each petition of the litanies, the choir sings on behalf of those praying: Lord, have mercy or: Grant, Lord. Lord, have mercy is a comprehensive and at the same time the simplest and most understandable prayer for every believer for every human need and need. We see the words of this short prayer in the Old Testament psalms (6, 3; 9, 14; 25, 11, etc.) and the Gospel narratives (Matthew 9, 27; 15, 22; 17, 15; 20, 30 and other places Gospels). In the Christian Church in the first centuries, this prayer was sung by the entire people. Therefore, even now, the deacon and all those praying after each petition, making the sign of the cross, mentally, together with the choir, also cry out: Lord, have mercy. The litany ends with a call to ask for intercession for our needs, named in all petitions, from the council of saints and especially from the Mother of God, so that our prayers would not be in vain and through their prayerful help we would be sanctified and graciously united with Christ. The contents of the petitions of the great litany are similar to the petitions that the Lord pronounced on the Cross. First, He prayed for the forgiveness of His enemies, then for His loved ones on earth, then for Himself, and finally, He surrendered His spirit to God the Father. 17. The exclamations of the priest after the litanies gradually reveal to us the properties of God. They glorify the Kingdom, power and glory of God; the goodness and love for mankind of God who has mercy and saves us. The priest at the altar reads seven secret prayers, according to the number of days of creation (Gen. 1). They contain petitions to the Merciful and Long-suffering God for our spiritual enlightenment, for giving us love for Him, the fear of God and reverence for the fear of offending His love for us, for giving us the joy of singing from a pure heart the praise of God now and in Eternal Life. These prayers in the Church Charter are called lamp prayers, since from the most ancient times vespers were performed with lighted lamps and vespers itself was often called the lamp service. To reconcile with God and restore spiritual communication with Him, a person needs to realize his sinfulness and freely choose in life the path of faith in God and fidelity to His will. The singing of Psalm 1, Blessed is the man, depicts the life of the Old Testament righteous, who, amid wickedness and unbelief, did not lose hope in the Promised Christ the Savior. This psalm also figuratively tells about the Only Begotten Son of God, the One Blessed Man, who committed no sin. The content of the psalm is edifying in our time. The followers of the Lord, believing His teaching, follow the path of life indicated by Him in the Holy Gospel (John 14:6), striving for the path of righteousness according to the commandments of God. Those who choose the path of self-will are forced to go through life without God’s help and deviate towards the path of destruction. Therefore, the Lord says: “he who believes in the Son has Eternal Life” (John 3:36), and “he who does not believe is already condemned” (John 3:18). Whoever fights evil in himself and around him, believes in the gracious help of God, in His merciful forgiveness of sins, the power of God will save him from deviating to the path of the wicked, the path of vice and wickedness. For each verse of the 1st Psalm, the refrain Alleluia (Praise God) is sung, a joyful and mysterious word, the song of eternity (Rev. 19: 1, 3, 4). After the small litany, stichera 18 are sung on the Lord, I cried with verses 19. Old Testament verses alternate with stichera that narrate the events of the New Testament, which 17 Solovyov I. I. Great Litany. M., 1911.

7 testifies to the agreement of the Old and New Testaments. The stichera are sung in one of the eight church voices, antiphonally, that is, alternately by the right and left choirs. Antiphonal singing was revealed in a vision to Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer, a disciple of John the Theologian: this is how the angels sang the praises of God. St. Gregory the Theologian 20 and St. John of Damascus 21 call the number “8” a symbol of eternity: the number “7” contains the present time (according to the days of creation), and the eighth day will be after the resurrection of the dead. The melodies of the voices have changed historically. It is impossible, of course, to identify the ancient melody (ancient Greek mode) with singing in voice, but the basic prayerful mood, which is conveyed by the content and the corresponding musical reproduction, has been preserved to this day. The first voice is simple, important, majestic and most solemn. Ancient writers compared it to the sun, saying that it drives away laziness, lethargy, sleep, sadness and embarrassment. The second voice is filled with meekness and reverence; it comforts the sad and drives away gloomy experiences. The third voice is stormy, like the sea in bad weather, inciting to spiritual warfare. The fourth voice is twofold: it sometimes excites joy, sometimes it inspires sadness; with quiet and soft transitions of tones, it imparts special peace to the soul; inspires a desire for the Heavenly, most expressing the effect of God's grace on us. The fifth voice calms emotional unrest; it is suitable for prayer, crying over sins. The sixth voice gives rise to pious feelings: devotion, humanity, love. The seventh voice is soft, touching, exhorting. He gently convinces and encourages you to ask for propitiation. The eighth voice expresses faith in the future life, contemplates Heavenly mysteries, and prays for the bliss of the soul. By singing, Lord, I cried and by burning incense at this time, the times when the Law was given by God through the prophet Moses (Ex. 20; 30, 7, 8) and the Old Testament worship was established. Lord, I called to You, hear me, this is the voice of a soul that has strayed from God and is in need of His help. People could not fulfill in all the severity of the Old Testament Law, which was supposed to lead people to a full and living awareness of the impossibility of salvation on their own and through this arouse in every person the desire for the coming to earth of the Promised Savior of the world, who will fulfill the Law and restore man’s communion with God. The last stichera of the Theotokos, or dogmatist, is a hymn to the glory of the Mother of God. It reveals the dogma (church teaching) about the Incarnation of the Lord from the Blessed Virgin Mary (John 1: 1-14). The author of the dogmatists is St. John of Damascus. During the singing of the dogmatist, the important sacred rite of Vespers, the entrance with the censer, is performed. Just as at the liturgy the priest enters the altar with the Holy Gifts to offer the Bloodless Sacrifice, so at Vespers to offer the verbal sacrifice of prayers of praise and thanksgiving. The evening entrance symbolizes the descent to earth of the Son of God to save people. The mystery of the Incarnation is difficult to convey in words, so the Church silently performs sacred actions that signify this mystery. The Royal Doors point to those impenetrable gates that the prophet Ezekiel saw in a vision (Ezekiel 44:1 2; therefore, the Annunciation is depicted on them), and the entrance itself means the Incarnation. The priests walk with candles, which signify the light of the teachings of Christ (John 1, 1 5, 9). Deacon is the image of the Forerunner of the Lord John (John 1:15-27). The priest walks “simple,” as the book of the Missal indicates, that is, with his hands down, as if humiliated, like the Son of God at the Incarnation. During the entrance, the priest offers a secret prayer for all those present, in which he asks the Lord to protect the hearts of believers from deviating into evil words and thoughts, asking for deliverance from the evil spirits that trap our souls. 18 Stichera from Greek. what is written in verse, a poem. In worship, stichera are called chants that tell about the event being celebrated. They are sung with poetry. 19 A verse in worship is a short saying or song selected from the Psalter or other books of Holy Scripture and precedes singing, reading and some prayers. 20 Word 41.2 // Creations. T. 1. St. Petersburg, b. [reprint: STSL, 1994]. P. 576; Word 44, 5 // Ibid. With an exact exposition of the Orthodox faith, 23 // Venerable John of Damascus. Source of knowledge. M., 2002 (PSTBI. Patristic Heritage. T. 5). P. 328.

8 The Song of the Quiet Light tells about the coming to earth at the end of the Old Testament time of Christ, about the beginning of a new, blessed day, the light of which the Savior brought, the day of eternity, given to the world by the One Immortal, the One Blessed God, for the sake of the redemptive deed of His Son. In this hymn, the Christian teaching about spiritual light that enlightens man, about Christ, the Source of gracious light (John 1:9), found expression. This song is very ancient. St. Basil the Great writes about her: “Our fathers did not want to accept the grace of the evening light in silence, but immediately as it came, they brought praise.” 22. The priest, entering the altar, kisses the throne, which means the Resurrection of the Lord and His appearance after the Resurrection to people , and, depicting that “the Only Begotten Son of God, who came down to us from Heaven, ascended again and took us up to Heaven” 23, goes to the high place of the altar and stands there while singing the prokemene (from the Greek “preceding”). Prokeemnas “forewords of holidays and coming days” 24. They precede parimia readings from the Holy Scriptures. On Saturday evening, the prokeimenon of the Lord reigning is sung about the victory of the Risen Lord over death, His establishment of all believers in the universe. Reading the Old Testament Scriptures (parimias) indicates a type or prophecy in the Old Testament about a sacred event now celebrated by the Church. Parimia (Greek) means parable, wise, figurative, edifying allegory. These readings come from different books of the Old Testament and contain a sermon about the expected salvation that Divine Wisdom has arranged for us, therefore those praying in the temple are called to reverent attention with the exclamation: Wisdom! Let's see! (Let us listen.) During the reading of the parimia, the royal doors are closed. 25. The prayer of the Church is intensified in a special litany, asking people for great and rich mercies from God, the Lover of Mankind. The choir supports the fervor of prayer by singing three times, Lord, have mercy. Vouchsafe, Lord, prayer for the sending down of a sinless evening and evening praise to the Triune God. In the litany of petition, as its name suggests, the Church asks the Lord for the various spiritual needs of a Christian. The priest proclaims: Peace to all, and the deacon calls on those praying to bow their heads in an image of humility and contrition of spirit. The priest, in prayer over those who bowed their heads, humbly begs God, who came down from Heaven for the salvation of mankind, to have mercy on those who bowed their heads to Him, for only from Him do they expect mercy and salvation, and asks to save us at all times from the devil. Litia: fervent prayer, outside the temple or in its vestibule 26. Standing at the entrance to the temple, the clergy signify our humility before God. As if depicting Adam expelled from Paradise, or the prodigal son who left his father for a foreign land, they leave the altar and stand for prayer in the vestibule, in the image of the publican’s humility, according to the parable of the Gospel (Luke 18:13). Lithium prayers of the Church's petition for the whole world, for the needs of all humanity. The Church asks intercession before God from all saints. She turns to the Most Holy Theotokos, the Forerunner John, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, educators equal to the apostles Cyril and Methodius, teachers of the Orthodox Slavic peoples, equal to the apostles Grand Duke Vladimir and Grand Duchess Olga and other powerful intercessors, asking for prayerful intercession from the faces of the holy apostles, saints, martyrs , reverend and righteous, from the patron saints of this temple. The Church prays for all people and especially for those in need of help: O 22 St. Basil the Great. To Amphilochius about the Holy Spirit. Ch. 29, 73 // Creations. T. 1. St. Petersburg, With Archbishop Veniamin. New tablet. Part 2, 20. St. Petersburg, 1899 [reprint M., 1992]. With Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Quote op. Chapter C On the days of remembrance of the holy apostles, parimias are read from the New Testament from the Epistles of the Apostles. Therefore, when reading them, the royal doors are not closed, as during the Old Testament parimia. 26 The narthex is the first entrance part of the temple, in ancient times the place of repentants and catechumens.

9 workers (engaged in hard work) and servants, about those who remain and those who are in retreat, that is, about those who, due to work or other needs, remain outside the temple, are not present at the divine service, about the sick, the dead and about their weakness (that is, rest from earthly labors and sorrows) and the remission of sins. The Church also asks for the deliverance of its children and the whole world from natural disasters, wars and civil strife. He asks for God's mercy from the impending punishment, that is, the coming just punishment of sinners, asks the Lord to exchange just anger for mercy. The prayers of the lithium are intensified by the repeated singing of Lord, have mercy. The priest proclaims: Peace to all, and all the people, bowing their heads, offer a humble prayer to the Most Merciful Master for the acceptance of our petitions not for our sake, but for the sake of our holy representatives, for forgiveness of sins, protection, driving away enemies, pardon for us and the whole world. After the litany, the clergy go to the royal doors, as if ascending to Heaven. The choir sings “stichera on verse” (that is, with verses from psalms), which tell about the sacred event being celebrated. The author of the Sunday stichera on the poem is considered to be the Monk John of Damascus. These stichera of the Theotokos glorify the Incarnation of Christ and contain a prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos for deliverance from misfortunes. The chant Now You Let Go preaches the fulfillment of God’s promise of sending the Savior into the world. This prayer was sung by Simeon the God-Receiver, the last Old Testament righteous man, who at the end of his life was honored to see the Savior of Israel (that is, the faithful children of the Church), the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into the world (Luke 2:22-32). Trisagion: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us... Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us... and the Lord's Prayer, Our Father... is the “Divine Seal” 27 with which services begin and end. After the priest’s cry, “Thy is the Kingdom”... the choir sings the troparion (on Sunday) to the Virgin Mary, rejoice... the joyful greeting of the Archangel Gabriel and the righteous Elizabeth to the Blessed Virgin Mary on the day of the Annunciation to Her of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God (Luke 1, 26-38 , 39-45). Troparion is a short chant that expresses the essence of the holiday. If a litia was celebrated, then five loaves of bread (symbolizing the five loaves of the Gospel with which the Lord fed 5,000 people; Matt. 14:15-21), wheat, wine and oil are placed on the prepared table in a special vessel. The priest prays for the increase of these God's gifts and blesses them 28. The choir sings: Blessed be the Name of the Lord from now to eternity. This chant and the 33rd Psalm that follows it, from which its most solemn part is sung, serve as a transition to the Matins service. The Church, fulfilling the covenant of the Apostle Paul: “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything” (1 Thess. 5, 17, 18), with the words of the 33rd Psalm, thanks the Lord for the past day and teaches its faithful children the admonition that all who seek (seek) God will receive saving help (every good) both in earthly life and for acquiring a blessed eternity. Vespers ends with the invocation of the Lord’s blessing, but man’s glorification of God’s wondrous deeds continues forever. Matins is the second part of the All-Night Vigil. It depicts New Testament events. The first part of Matins lifts the person praying from a repentant mood to joy in God. With His coming into the world, the Lord Jesus Christ marked the beginning of a new blessed day in the life of the universe. The morning service begins with the song sung by the angels at the birth of the Savior: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14), sung three times in honor of the Most Holy Trinity. To this 27 Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Quote op. Chapter C In ancient times, when the all-night vigil lasted all night, Christians went to the refectory and strengthened their strength with these blessed breads. The Service Book says: “It will be known that blessed bread is helpful against all kinds of evils (diseases), if it is received with faith.”

10 The doxology is accompanied by the petition: Lord, you have opened my mouth, and my mouth will proclaim Your praise 29 (Ps. 50:17). After the chant Glory to God in the highest... the reading of the Six Psalms begins (Ps. 3, 37, 62, 87, 102, 142). The psalms depict both the joyful state of the soul of a person, with whom the mercy of the Lord is, and the sorrow of the soul, under the weight of sins, realizing the need for redemption. Both day and night the righteous man cries out to God, realizing his own, as it were, infantile weakness, fearing many temptations that are destructive to the soul. The Merciful and Generous Lord cleanses a person from sin, heals ailments, consoles people in grievances, and strengthens them on the path of fulfilling the commandments. Putting itself before God as at the Last Judgment, the soul prays for mercy and asks the Holy Spirit to transform its deadly earthiness. Faith in salvation is heard in all six psalms. Thus, the Six Psalms attunes the Christian’s soul to deep spiritual experiences and prepares it for the morning service. The first three psalms are separated from the subsequent ones by triple Alleluia and a small doxology. The ending verses of the psalms are repeated to draw our attention to them. In ancient times, these verses were sung by choirs and all the people. The Six Psalms, as it were, replaces the entire Psalter, which was read in ancient times at Vigil 30. One must listen to the reading of the Six Psalms reverently, praying for the forgiveness of one’s sins. The Holy Fathers advise at this time to reflect on the vanity of human life, on death and on the Last Judgment of God. After the reader has read three psalms, the priest leaves the altar, representing the Lord Jesus Christ as the Heavenly Intercessor for us before God (1 John 2:1,2). Standing in front of the closed royal doors, he silently reads 12 morning prayers, consecrating the hours of the all-night vigil. After the great litany, the deacon solemnly proclaims: God is the Lord, and appear to us! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! God the Lord has appeared to us! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! the gospel of the Old Testament prophet about the expected Savior of the world (Ps. 117: 19-29). This prophetic voice glorifies the first and second comings of Christ. Verses from the psalms (Confess the Lord...), pronounced while singing God the Lord, depict the suffering-filled earthly life of the Savior, who spoke to the apostles about His death and Resurrection, the consequence of which would be the founding of the Church (Acts 4:11). The choir sings God the Lord in the voice with which the troparion of the holiday will be sung. This is followed by the reading of kathismas from the Psalter. The Psalter is divided into 20 sections, which are called kathismas. Kathisma is divided into three parts (Glory), after reading each of which a small doxology is sung: “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen" (hence the name Slava). Kathisma translated from Greek means “sitting”; you can sit while reading the Psalter, but you must stand up during the short doxology. At the all-night vigil, two ordinary kathismas (that is, indicated by the schedule next to the Charter) are read, and after each there are a small litany and sedalny 31 short prayers timed to coincide with the reading of the kathismas. “Like the veins and bones in the body, so the psalms run throughout the entire divine service, writes the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, they form its basis, connect the Old Testament with the New, Old Testament singing with the New Testament, prophetic with the apostolic and patristic.” This petition was especially important in the first centuries , when Christians, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, improvised in prayer. 30 Uspensky N. D. Cited. cit., p. 39; Skabballanovich M. Explanatory typicon. Vol. 2. Kyiv, 1913 [reprint: 1994, etc.]. C In the first centuries of Christianity, there was a custom, after one or another prayer, to sit and reflect on what was heard. From these reflections, chants were born, which were called sedalnov. 32 Thoughts on the divine service of the Orthodox Church by Archpriest John Sergiev (Kronstadt). M, S. 115.

11 After the reading of the kathismas, the most solemn part of the Polyeleos Matins begins. Polyeleos from Greek literally means “abundance of oil, oil.” Oil in the Holy Scriptures is a symbol of God's mercy, blessing, grace-filled gifts, and cheerfulness. At this time, all the lamps in the temple are lit. The observance of Matins is associated with the idea of ​​the uncreated Light of Christ, revealed in His Incarnation and Resurrection from the dead. “In all the churches of the East, writes Blessed Jerome (IV century), when the Gospel is to be read, lamps are lit, even in sunlight, of course, not to drive away darkness, but as a sign of joy... so that under the image of the material light that Light is represented , about which in the Psalter we read: “The lamp of my feet is Your law and the light of my paths” (Ps. 119, 105)” 33. Polyeleos begins with the singing of verses of praise from the 134th and 135th Psalms Praise the Name of the Lord... and ends reading the Gospel. Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica, says that the polyeleos psalms are “a song of victory and proclaiming the wondrous deeds of God, especially the transition of our souls from the Egypt of sin and error to faith in Christ... after temptation and labor, dwelling in the promised land and heavenly inheritance through Jesus” 34. At this time, the Resurrection of the Savior from the dead, His victory over death is remembered, and the Holy Church praises the Lord for His ineffable mercies towards the human race. The royal gates open. The clergy burn incense throughout the entire church, depicting the myrrh-bearing women and the apostles who early in the morning came to the Savior’s Tomb and, having learned from the angels about the Resurrection of Christ, announced this joy to all believers (Luke 24: 1-10). The troparia of the Council of Angels (that is, the meeting, the face of angels) narrate this event. If a major holiday coincides with Sunday, then before these troparions a glorification of the holiday is sung. Degrees, also called antiphons due to the way they are performed by choirs alternately, contain prayers for the correction and cleansing of the soul by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The nine verses of the antiphons correspond to the singing of the nine ranks of angels chanting the Holy Trinity. The author of the antiphons is considered to be the Monk Theodore the Studite (9th century). The grave prayers elevate the soul with their tender, repentant content and prepare those praying for hearing the Gospel. Their content is borrowed from psalms called power psalms. They, as it were, by degrees, steps, along a spiritual ladder, raise the soul of a Christian from earth to Heaven, from sorrow to joy, from disasters to blissful peace. The ringing at this time reminds us of the apostolic preaching of the Gospel. The Gospel, symbolizing the Risen Lord, is carried from the altar onto the sole, and the morning prokeimenon is proclaimed. The Church prepares its children to read the Gospel, prays for their sanctification and calls on all living things to glorify the Lord: Let every breath praise the Lord. In order to be worthy (Slavic: worthy) to hear the words of the Gospel, you need to listen to them as to Wisdom itself, to be simple (Slavic) humble, realizing yourself to be poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). The Gospel at Matins is read by the priest himself (during the bishop's service, the bishop), depicting the Lord, Who fed His disciples with the Divine word. There are 11 Sunday morning Gospel readings (according to the number of apostles who remained faithful to Christ): Matt. 28, 16-20; Mk. 16, 1-8; Mk. 16, 9-20; OK. 24, 1-12; OK. 24, 12-35; OK. 24, 36-53; In. 20, 1-10; In. 20, 11-18; In. 20, 19-31; In. 21, 1-14: John. 21, They tell about the appearances of the Lord to His disciples after the Resurrection. Reading the Gospel makes us spiritual eyewitnesses of the remembered Gospel events, introduces us into living, Altar-personal communion with Christ. We become participants in His saving works, true witnesses of His Divine glory. Worship before the Gospel and the icon of the holiday, reverently kissing them is our worship of Christ Himself. This conviction is expressed by the Church when, after 33 Blessed Jerome of Stridon. Against Vigilance, // Creations. Kyiv, Part 4. P. 302 (Book of the works of the Holy Fathers and teachers of the Western Church. Book 6). 34 Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Quote op. Chapter S. 416, 417.

12 readings of the Gospel, sings: Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus... The more solemn the event, the more repentant the 50th Psalm sounds at this time. This is the prayer of a sinful person who, contemplating the joy of the spiritual holiday of the Church, remembers the impurity of his heart and fears that in Eternal Life he will not see God, will be rejected by Him, will hear the just words of the Lord: “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7 , 23). The hymns accompanying the psalm for Glory, even now, direct our prayer to the main heroes of the holiday and the Most Holy Theotokos. The reading of the canon is the most important part of Matins. “Canon” originally meant a church service, a sequence or a rule indicating the order of the number of prayers and psalms that were supposed to be sung or read during the day. In the monastery of St. Theodore the Studite, the name “canon” was given to a large church song, with a strictly consistent literary form, performed at matins, after the polyeleos. A canon is a sacred poetic work, combining nine songs, in which the life and deeds of a saint or a group of saints are glorified, and a festive event is glorified. The first stanza of each of the nine songs of the canon irmos (translated from Greek as “connection”) connects the subsequent stanzas (troparia) into a single whole and gives them a certain musical rhythm and prayerful mood. The troparia of the canon begin with the refrains: for the feasts of the Lord, Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee; Mother of God, Most Holy Theotokos, save us; on Sundays, Glory, Lord, to Your Holy Resurrection; Glory, Lord, to Your Honest Cross and Resurrection. The last troparion is always dedicated to the Mother of God. At the end of each song, a small doxology of Glory is sung or read, and now. Each song of the canon ends with a chant called katavasia, from the Greek “kataveno” “I go down”: to sing katavasias, both choirs went down from the solea down into the middle of the temple, where they sang this chant, as is done today in some monasteries. The first hymn of the canon is modeled after the song of thanksgiving by the prophet Moses and his sister Mariam, sung by them after the miraculous crossing of the Red (Slavic: Red) Sea: Let us sing to the Lord, for gloriously we shall be glorified (Ex. 15: 1). The second is modeled on the accusatory song of Moses, composed by him to denounce the Israelites for violating the Law of God (Deut. 32), and it is sung only during Lent. The third song is modeled on the song of thanksgiving to Saint Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, for the resolution of her infertility: Let my heart be established in the Lord. .. (1 Samuel 2, 1-10). The fourth is modeled on the song of the prophet Habakkuk, containing a prediction about the Incarnation of the Son of God and the Divine power of the Incarnate One: Lord, I heard Your hearing and was afraid... (Hab. 3: 1-19). The fifth is modeled on the song of the prophet Isaiah, which also contains a prophecy about the Savior of the world and the fruits of His redemptive feat: My spirit becomes morning from the night... (Is. 26:9-19). The sixth is modeled on the thanksgiving prayer of the prophet Jonah for delivering him from death in the belly of the whale: I cried out in my affliction to the Lord God... (Jonah 2:3-10). The seventh and eighth songs are modeled after the song of thanksgiving of the three youths who were miraculously saved in the cave of Babylon: Blessed art thou, O Lord God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is thy name forever... (Dan. 3:26-45). On the eighth canto, instead of Glory, it is read: Let us bless the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of the Lord... and before the chaos it is sung: We praise, we bless..., for the three youths in the cave prefigured the Holy Trinity, as well as the Incarnation of Christ 35. The ninth canto contains the glorification of the Mother of God . It is applied to the song of Saint Zechariah, father of the Forerunner of the Lord John (Luke 1, 68-79). Before the ninth hymn of the canon, a deacon with a censer proclaims in front of the icon of the Mother of God: Let us exalt the Mother of God and the Mother of Light with hymns (usually in songs), calling for special attention and solemnity. The Most Holy Theotokos is called the Mother of Light, because from Her the Light of men was incarnate (John 1:4-9) the Lord Jesus Christ. Next, the song of the Mother of God is sung, the own glorification of the Mother of God, pronounced at the meeting with 35 New Tablet, part 2, 17. Decree, ed., p. 117.

13 by the righteous Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist: My soul magnifies the Lord... (Luke 1:46-55). The Lord bestowed upon the humble Mother of God the supreme greatness and adoration of all earthly races. The Lord always has mercy on those who fear Him, casts down the arrogant and exalts (glorifies) the humble, enriches with grace those who are aware of their spiritual poverty, those who seek His righteousness, and deprives of mercy those who are “rich”, proud in spirit, wise in themselves and puffed up in their own mind (Isa. 5:21) . The content of this hymn is still Old Testament, but new meaning is given to it by the words about “mercy” and “grace” with which the Archangel greeted the Blessed Virgin Mary. The chorus to all six verses of this song of the Mother of God is the song Most Honest Cherub..., in which “with special expressiveness the Most Holy Virgin is confessed to be the real, real Mother of God and with great boldness of faith is placed above the highest angelic ranks.” 36. The song Most Honest Cherub was written by Saint Cosmas, Bishop of Maium (VIII century). Those capable of contemplating the spiritual world have repeatedly seen the Most Pure Mother of God blessing those singing this song 37. The identical structure of the canons and their similarity in internal content make it possible to connect them with each other. First, the first hymn of all canons is read, then the next one, etc., while the irmos is sung alone. Thus, all the canons, no matter how many there are at Matins, constitute, as it were, one canon. At Sunday Matins, for example, three canons from the Octoechos are sung: the Sunday, the Cross and the Theotokos, followed by the canon to the saint from the Menaion. “In the threefold image of the Divine Trinity” 38, the canon is divided into three parts; after the third, sixth and ninth cantos, small litanies are pronounced. After the third song, a sedalene is read, which tells about the circumstances of the holiday. After the sixth song there is a kontakion and an ikos, containing a brief summary and praise of the event of the holiday or the life of the saint. Sunday kontakia theologize about the spiritual content of the Resurrection of Christ, and ikos depict the external outline of events. Kontakion and Ikos complement the troparion of the holiday with their content. At the end of the canon, the Sunday solemn luminary is preceded by the deacon’s threefold exclamation: Holy is the Lord our God, in imitation of the praise of the Seraphim (Isa. 6: 2, 3). Svetilen praises God as Light and Giver of Light. The lamps are also called “exapostilaria” (from the Greek “exapostello”, “I send”, “I send”), for Sunday exapostilaria tell about the Lord’s sending of the apostles to preach. The last part of Matins is full of prayerful inspiration. The psalms Praise the Lord from heaven (Ps. 148), Sing a new song to the Lord (Ps. 149) and Praise God in His saints (Ps. 150) together with the so-called “praise stichera” have such a joyful tone that they are also contained in the Easter service . The Stichera of the Theotokos on Sundays of praise is always the same. Most blessed are you, O Virgin Mother of God... It is sung in a solemn second tone. The first glimpse of the morning dawn, destroying the darkness of the night, gives birth to a prototype of God as the Uncreated Light and prompts the Church to great praise. Glory to You, who showed us the Light, proclaims the priest. The Great Doxology begins with an angelic song sung at the birth of the Savior (“Glory to God in the highest...”), contains a prayer for mercy addressed to each Person of the Holy Trinity, filled with faith in the salvation of man, and concludes with the confession of Christ. The thanksgiving of the Lamb of God, Christ the Savior, who took upon Himself the sins of the world, sets us up to wait for the liturgy close in time 39. The quiet and slow chant speaks of peace, satisfaction and tranquility in God. “To every believer, writes 36 Skaballanovich M. Quote. cit., with Skaballanovich M. Cited. op., with Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Quote op. Chapter C In the ancient rites of the liturgy, the people proclaimed: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men” before communion of the Holy Mysteries (see: Apostolic Decrees VIII, 13 // Apostolic Decrees, through St. Clement, Bishop of Rome, devotees / Translated by Father Innokenty Novgorodov, St. Petersburg, 2002 [ed.: Kazan, 1864]. Cf. VII, 47, p. 168).

14 Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica, must delve into it and understand it, and offer it up to God every day, morning and evening, because it is the confession and glorification of the One God in the Holy Trinity, and the praise of the Incarnation, and the atonement, the crucifixion and the Ascension of the Word of God. .. a grateful prayer that we may preserve ourselves sinless every day and night, so that, as we hope, the mercy of God may be upon us, and the Lord, who through the Incarnation became our Refuge, will have mercy on us...” 40. The great doxology ends with an angelic hymn Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. On the coming festive Sunday, we sing praises to God together with the angels, anticipating the time “when, having risen, we will see Him face to face, when all members, in abundance of joy, will lift up a song, glorifying the One who raised them from the dead and gave Eternal Life.” 41. At the end of Matins, it seems to return to its beginning. The festive troparion is sung again. The intense and petitionary litanies at Matins are not separated in any way and, merging, make up one large, majestic prayer. The exclamation of this prayer is an intense request for God’s mercy: It is Yours to be merciful and save us (us). Our God... With the cry of Wisdom, the rite of dismissal begins. 42. The choir asks on behalf of those praying: Bless. The priest proclaims: Blessed is Christ our God... Next, the Church asks the Lord to confirm the holy Orthodox faith of Orthodox Christians for eternity and prays to the Mother of God to intercede for us before Her Divine Son: Most Holy Theotokos, save us. The choir sings to Her the song Most Honest Cherub... Glorifying the Most Holy Trinity and raising the glorification into eternity: Glory, and now, the choir asks for blessings on behalf of all those praying. The priest confesses Christ as the True God, recalls the briefly celebrated event (Risen from the dead, Christ our True God... on Sunday) and affirms our hope for pardon and salvation through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God, the saints who are celebrated on this day, and all saints. Many years are sung to His Holiness the Patriarch, the diocesan bishop serving in the church, parishioners and all Orthodox Christians. Matins ends. The 1st hour reading begins. Hours of prayer, sanctifying a certain time of day; consist of three psalms, several verses and prayers, selected accordingly to each quarter of the day and to the special circumstances of the Savior’s suffering. The service of the first hour was established in remembrance of the fact that at this hour the Lord was brought from Caiaphas to Pilate (Matt. 27, 2). At the service of the third hour, the trial of Pilate and the torment of the Savior are remembered (Matthew 27:11-30), as well as the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles after the Ascension of the Lord (Acts 2:1-4). At the sixth hour we remember: the Savior’s procession to execution, His crucifixion and suffering on the cross (Luke 23:26-38). At the ninth hour there is the great dying suffering and death of the God-man Christ (Matthew 27:33-54). The services of the hours are performed daily and are therefore called daily, or ordinary, services. For the sake of convenience, the services of the hours are combined with other services: the 9th hour with Vespers, the 1st with Matins, the 3rd and 6th with the Divine Liturgy. Great Vespers (in conjunction with Matins) The royal doors open. BRIEF CHART OF THE ALL-NIGHT VIgil 40 Simeon, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Quote op. Ch. 279 [=cap. 314]. With Saint Irenaeus of Lyons. Against heresies V, 8, 1 // Works of St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons / Ed. in Russian lane prot. P. Preobrazhensky. St. Petersburg, 1900 [reprint: M., 1996]. With the dismissal blessing of the priest upon the exit of worshipers from the temple after the service.

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All-night vigil, or All-night vigil, – 1) a solemn temple service, combining the services of the great (sometimes great), and the first; 2) one of the forms of Orthodox ascetic practice: prayerful vigil at night.

The ancient custom of holding an all-night vigil is based on the example of the Holy Apostles.

Nowadays, usually in parishes and in most monasteries the vigil is celebrated in the evening. At the same time, the practice of serving the All-Night Vigil at night has still been preserved: on the eve of the Holy Days, the vigil is celebrated at night in most churches in Russia; on the eve of some holidays - in the Athos monasteries, in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, etc.

In practice, before the All-Night Vigil, a service of the ninth hour can be performed.

The All-Night Vigil is served the day before:
– Sundays
– twelve holidays
– holidays marked with a special sign in the Typikon (e.g. the memory of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker)
– days of temple holidays
– any holiday at the request of the rector of the temple or according to local tradition.

Between Great Vespers and Matins, after the litany “Let us fulfill our evening prayer to the Lord,” there is a litia (from the Greek - intense prayer). In Russian parishes it is not served on the eve of Sundays.

Vigil is also called night prayer, performed privately by pious believers. Many St. The Fathers consider night prayer to be a high Christian virtue. The saint writes: “The wealth of farmers is gathered at the threshing floor and the grindstone; and the wealth and intelligence of monks is in the evening and night prayers of God and in the activities of the mind.” ().

V. Dukhanin, from the book “What We Believe”:
We are so immersed in earthly vanity and cares that in order to gain true spiritual freedom we need a very long service. This is what the All-Night Vigil is - it is celebrated in the evenings on the eve of Sundays and holidays and is able to free our souls from the darkness of earthly impressions, to dispose us to comprehend the spiritual meaning of the holiday, to perceive the gifts of grace. The All-Night Vigil always precedes the Liturgy, the main divine service of the Church. And if the Liturgy, in its sacramental meaning, symbolizes the Kingdom of the next century, the eternal Kingdom of God (although the Liturgy is not limited to this meaning), then the All-Night Vigil symbolizes what precedes it, the history of the Old and New Testaments.
The All-Night Vigil begins with Great Vespers, which depicts the main milestones of Old Testament history: the creation of the world, the fall of the first people, their prayer and hope for future salvation. For example, the first opening of the Royal Doors, the censing of the altar by the clergy and the proclamation: “Glory to the Holy, and Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity...” marks the creation of the world by the Holy Trinity, when the Holy Spirit, symbolized by clouds of incense smoke, embraced the primordial world, breathing into it life-giving power. Next, the one hundred and third psalm is sung, “Bless the Lord, my soul,” glorifying the wisdom of the Creator, revealed in the beauties of the visible world. At this time, the priest burns incense to the entire temple and those praying, and we remember the heavenly life of the first people, when God Himself dwelt next to them, filling them with the grace of the Holy Spirit. But man sinned and was expelled from paradise - the Royal Doors are closed, and now prayer is performed in front of them. And the singing of the verses “Lord, I have called to You, hear me” recalls the plight of humanity after the Fall, when illnesses, suffering, needs appeared, and people sought God’s mercy in repentance. The singing ends with a stichera in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, during which the priest, preceded by a priest and a deacon with a censer, leaves the northern doors of the altar and solemnly enters through the Royal Doors, which turns our mind's eye to the predictions of the Old Testament prophets about the coming of the Savior to the world. This is how each fragment of Vespers contains a sublime meaning, mainly associated with Old Testament history.
And then follows Matins, which signifies the onset of the New Testament time - the appearance of the Lord into the world, His Birth in human nature and His glorious resurrection. Thus, the very first verses before the sixth psalm: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” are reminiscent of the doxology of the angels who appeared to the Bethlehem shepherds at the moment of the Nativity of Christ (cf.). Of particular importance at Matins is the polyeleos (which means “much merciful” or “much illumination”) - the solemn part of the All-Night Vigil, which includes the glorification of God’s mercy revealed in the coming of the Son of God, who saved people from the power of the devil and death. The polyeleos begins with the solemn singing of verses of praise: “Praise the name of the Lord, praise, servants of the Lord. Hallelujah,” all the lamps in the temple are lit, and the Royal Doors are opened as a sign of God’s special favor towards people. On the eve of Sundays, special Sunday troparia are sung - joyful songs in honor of the Resurrection of the Lord, telling how angels appeared to the myrrh-bearing women at the Tomb of the Savior and announced to them about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel dedicated to the holiday is solemnly read, and then the canon is performed - a collection of special short songs and prayers dedicated to the celebrated event. In general, it is worth noting that in addition to the indicated meaning, each All-Night Vigil is dedicated to a specific holiday - an event in sacred history or the memory of a saint or an icon of the Mother of God, and therefore, throughout the entire service, chants are sung and prayers dedicated to this particular holiday are read. So it is possible to comprehend the meaning of the All-Night Vigil not only by knowing the transformative meaning of the liturgical actions, but also by delving into the meaning of the hymns of each holiday, for which it is good to familiarize yourself with the content of the liturgical texts at home. And the most important thing is to learn to pray attentively during worship, with a warm and sincere feeling, because only in this way will the main goal of church services be achieved - .

The meaning and structure of the All-Night Vigil

Archpriest Viktor Potapov

Introduction

Jesus Christ denounced the lawyers of His time for elevating rituals and rites to the level of the highest religious virtue and taught that the only worthy service to God is service “in spirit and truth” (). Denouncing the legalistic attitude towards the Sabbath, Christ said that “the Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (). The Savior's harshest words are directed against the Pharisaic adherence to traditional ritual forms. But on the other hand, Christ himself visited the Jerusalem temple, preached and prayed - and His apostles and disciples did the same.

Christianity in its historical development not only did not discard the ritual, but over time established its own complex liturgical system. Isn't there an obvious contradiction here? Isn't it enough for a Christian to pray privately?

Faith only in the soul becomes an abstract, non-vital faith. In order for faith to become vital, it must be realized in life. Participation in temple ceremonies is the implementation of faith in our lives. And every person who not only thinks about faith, but lives by faith, will definitely participate in the liturgical life of Christ’s Church, go to church, know and love the rites of the Church’s services.

In the book “Heaven on Earth: Worship of the Eastern Church” prot. Alexander Men explains the need for external forms of worship in human life: “Our whole life, in its most diverse manifestations, is clothed in rituals. The word “rite” comes from “to rite”, “to clothe”. Joy and sorrow, everyday greetings, encouragement, admiration, and indignation - all this takes external forms in human life. So what right do we have to deprive our feelings towards God of this form? What right do we have to reject Christian art, Christian rituals? The words of prayers, hymns of thanksgiving and repentance that poured out from the depths of the hearts of the great seers of God, great poets, great hymns are not useless for us. Deepening into them is a school of the soul, educating it for true service to the Eternal. Worship leads to enlightenment, elevation of a person, it ennobles his soul. Therefore, Christianity, serving God “in spirit and truth,” preserves both rituals and cult.”

Christian worship in the broad sense of the word is called “liturgy,” that is, a common task, common prayer, and the science of worship is called “liturgics.”

Christ said: “Where two or three gather in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (). Worship can be called the focus of the entire spiritual life of a Christian. When many people are inspired by common prayer, a spiritual atmosphere is created around them that is conducive to sincere prayer. At this time, believers enter into mysterious, sacramental communion with God - necessary for true spiritual life. The Holy Fathers of the Church teach that just as a branch that breaks off from a tree dries up, not receiving the juices necessary for its further existence, so a person who is separated from the Church ceases to receive that power, that grace that lives in the services and sacraments of the Church and which necessary for human spiritual life.

A famous Russian theologian of the beginning of the century, a priest, called worship a “synthesis of arts,” because the whole being of a person is ennobled in the temple. Everything is important for an Orthodox church: architecture, the aroma of incense, the beauty of icons, the singing of the choir, preaching and action.

The actions of Orthodox worship are distinguished by their religious realism and place the believer in close proximity to the main gospel events and, as it were, remove the barrier of time and space between those praying and the remembered events.

In the Christmas service, not only is the Nativity of Christ remembered, but in fact, Christ is mysteriously born, just as He is resurrected on Holy Easter - and the same can be said about His Transfiguration, Entry into Jerusalem, and about the performance of the Last Supper, and about the Passion and burial and ascension; as well as about all the events from the life of the Most Holy Theotokos - from Her Nativity to the Assumption. The life of the Church in worship is a mysteriously accomplished incarnation: the Lord continues to live in the Church in the image of His earthly appearance, which, having once taken place, continues to exist at all times, and the Church is given the power to revive sacred memories, to bring them into force, so that we become their new witnesses and participants. All worship in general therefore acquires the meaning of the Life of God, and the temple - a place for it.

Part I. Great Vespers

The spiritual meaning of the All-Night Vigil

In the service of the All-Night Vigil, he imparts to the worshipers a sense of the beauty of the setting sun and turns their thoughts to the spiritual light of Christ. The Church also directs believers to prayerfully reflect on the coming day and the eternal light of the Kingdom of Heaven. The All-Night Vigil is, as it were, a liturgical line between the past day and the coming one.

Structure of the All-Night Vigil

The All-Night Vigil, as the name suggests, is a service that, in principle, lasts all night. True, in our time such services that last all night are rare, mainly only in some monasteries, such as on Mount Athos. In parish churches, the All-Night Vigil is usually celebrated in a shortened form.

The All-Night Vigil takes believers to the long-gone times of the nightly services of the early Christians. For the first Christians, the evening meal, prayer and commemoration of the martyrs and the dead, as well as the Liturgy, formed one whole - traces of which are still preserved in various evening services of the Orthodox Church. This includes the consecration of bread, wine, wheat and oil, as well as those cases when the Liturgy is combined into one whole with Vespers, for example, the Lenten Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the liturgy of Vespers and the eve of the holidays of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany, the liturgy of Maundy Thursday, Great Saturday and the night Liturgy of the Resurrection of Christ.

Actually, the All-Night Vigil consists of three services: Great Vespers, Matins and the First Hour. In some cases, the first part of the All-Night Vigil is not Great Vespers, but Great Compline. Matins is the central and most essential part of the All-Night Vigil.

Delving into what we hear and see at Vespers, we are transported to the times of Old Testament humanity and experience in our hearts what they experienced.

Knowing what is depicted at Vespers (as well as at Matins), it is easy to understand and remember the entire course of the service - the order in which hymns, readings, and sacred rites follow one after another.

GREAT VESPERS

In the Bible we read that in the beginning God created heaven and earth, but the earth was unstructured (“formless” - according to the exact word of the Bible) and the Life-giving Spirit of God hovered over it in silence, as if pouring living forces into it.

The beginning of the All-Night Vigil - Great Vespers - takes us to this beginning of creation: the service begins with the silent cross-shaped incense of the Altar. This action is one of the most profound and meaningful moments of Orthodox worship. It is an image of the breath of the Holy Spirit in the depths of the Holy Trinity. The silence of the cruciform incense seems to indicate the eternal peace of the supreme Deity. It symbolizes that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who sends down the Holy Spirit from the Father, is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” and the cross, the weapon of His saving slaughter, also has a premium, eternal and cosmic meaning. The Metropolitan, who lived in the 19th century, in one of his sermons on Good Friday emphasizes that “The Cross of Jesus... is the earthly image and shadow of the heavenly Cross of Love.”

Initial whoop

After censing, the priest stands in front of the throne, and the deacon, leaving the royal doors and standing on the ambo to the west, that is, to the worshipers, exclaims: “Arise!” and then, turning to the east, continues: “Lord, bless!”

The priest, making a cross in the air in front of the throne with a censer, proclaims: “Glory to the Holy, and Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity, always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.”

The meaning of these words and actions is that the priest’s co-celebrant, the deacon, invites those gathered to stand up for prayer, to be attentive, and to “perk up in spirit.” The priest, with his cry, confesses the beginning and Creator of everything - the consubstantial and life-giving Trinity. By making the sign of the cross with a censer at this time, the priest shows that through the Cross of Jesus Christ, Christians were granted partial insight into the mystery of the Holy Trinity - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

After the exclamation “Glory to the Holy Ones...” the clergy glorify the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, chanting at the altar: “Come, let us worship our King God... Christ Himself, the King and our God.”

Opening Psalm

The choir then sings the 103rd, “Initial Psalm,” which begins with the words: “Bless the Lord, my soul,” and ends with the words: “Thou hast created all things with wisdom!” This psalm is a hymn about the universe created by God - the visible and invisible world. Psalm 103 has inspired poets of different times and peoples. For example, a poetic adaptation of it by Lomonosov is known. Its motives are heard in Derzhavin’s ode “God” and in Goethe’s “Prologue in Heaven.” The main feeling that permeates this psalm is the admiration of a person contemplating the beauty and harmony of the world created by God. God “arranged” the unsettled earth in the six days of creation - everything became beautiful (“good is good”). Psalm 103 also contains the idea that even the most imperceptible and small things in nature are fraught with no less miracles than the grandest.

Each temple

During the singing of this psalm, the entire temple is censed with the royal doors open. This action was introduced by the Church in order to remind believers of the Holy Spirit hovering over God’s creation. The open royal doors at this moment symbolize paradise, that is, the state of direct communication between people and God, in which the first people lived. Immediately after the incense of the temple, the royal doors are closed, just as the original sin committed by Adam closed the doors of paradise for man and alienated him from God.

In all these actions and chants of the beginning of the All-Night Vigil, the cosmic significance of the Orthodox church, which represents a real image of the universe, is revealed. The altar with the throne symbolizes paradise and heaven, where the Lord reigns; the priests symbolize the angels serving God, and the middle part of the temple symbolizes the earth with humanity. And just as paradise was returned to people by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, so the clergy descend from the altar to the praying people in shining robes, reminiscent of the Divine light with which the robes of Christ shone on Mount Tabor.

Lamp prayers

Immediately after the priest burns incense in the temple, the royal doors are closed, just as Adam’s original sin closed the doors of paradise and alienated him from God. Now fallen humanity, before the closed gates of heaven, prays for a return to the path of God. Depicting the repentant Adam, the priest stands in front of the closed royal doors, with his head uncovered and without the shiny robe in which he performed the solemn beginning of the service - as a sign of repentance and humility - and silently reads the seven “lamp prayers”. In these prayers, which are the oldest part of Vespers (they were compiled in the 4th century), one can hear a person’s awareness of his helplessness and a request for guidance on the path of truth. These prayers are distinguished by high artistry and spiritual depth. Here is the seventh prayer in Russian translation:

“God, the Great and Most High, the One who has immortality, who lives in unapproachable light, who created all creation with wisdom, who divided light and darkness, who determined the day for the sun, who gave the moon and stars the region of night, who honored us sinners and at this hour to bring praise before Your face and eternal praise! O Lover of Mankind, accept our prayer as incense smoke before You, accept it as a pleasant fragrance: let us spend this evening and the coming night in peace. Arm us with weapons of light. Deliver us from the terrors of the night and all that darkness brings with it. And the sleep that You have given us for the rest of those who are exhausted, may it be clean from all devilish dreams (“fantasies”). O Lord, Giver of all blessings! Grant to us, who grieve over our sins on our beds and remember Your name at night, enlightened by the words of Your commandments - let us stand in spiritual joy, glorify Your goodness, bring prayers to Your mercy for the forgiveness of our sins and of all Your people whom You have graciously visited for the sake of prayers Holy Mother of God."

While the priest is reading the seven prayers of light, according to the church charter, candles and lamps are lit in the temple - an action that symbolizes the Old Testament hopes, revelations and prophecies relating to the coming Messiah, the Savior - Jesus Christ.

Great Litany

Then the deacon pronounces the “Great Litany.” A litany is a collection of short prayer requests and appeals to the Lord about the earthly and spiritual needs of believers. A litany is a particularly fervent prayer that is read on behalf of all believers. The choir, also on behalf of all those present at the service, responds to these petitions with the words “Lord, have mercy.” “Lord, have mercy” is a short, but one of the most perfect and complete prayers a person can say. It says it all.

The “Great Litany” is often called after its first words – “Let us pray to the Lord in peace” – “Peaceful Litany”. Peace is a necessary condition for any prayer, both public-church and personal. Christ speaks about a peaceful spirit as the basis of all prayer in the Gospel of Mark: “And when you stand in prayer, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your heavenly Father may also forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25). Rev. said: “Get yourself a peaceful spirit and thousands around you will be saved.” That is why, at the beginning of the All-Night Vigil and most of his other services, he invites believers to pray to God with a calm, peaceful conscience, reconciled with their neighbors and with God.

Further, in the peaceful litany, the Church prays for peace throughout the world, for the unity of all Christians, for the native country, for the church in which this service takes place, and in general for all Orthodox churches, and for those who enter them not only out of curiosity, but , in the words of the litany, “with faith and reverence.” The litany also remembers those traveling, the sick, those in captivity, and hears a request for deliverance from “sorrow, anger and need.” The final petition of the Peaceful Litany says: “Having remembered our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary with all the saints, let us commend ourselves, each other and our whole life (that is, our life) to Christ our God.” This formula contains two deep and fundamental Orthodox theological ideas: the dogma of the prayerful intercession of the Mother of God as the Head of all saints and the high ideal of Christianity - dedicating one’s life to Christ God.

The Great (Peaceful) Litany ends with the exclamation of the priest, in which, just as at the beginning of the All-Night Vigil, the Holy Trinity is glorified - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

First kathisma - “Blessed is the man”

Just as Adam at the gates of heaven in repentance turned to God with prayer, so the deacon at the closed royal gates begins to pray - the Great Litany “Let us pray to the Lord in peace...”

But Adam had just heard the promise of God - “the seed of the woman will erase the head of the serpent”, the Savior will come to earth - and Adam’s soul burns with hope for salvation.

This hope is heard in the following hymn of the All-Night Vigil. As if in response to the Great Litany, the biblical psalm sounds again. This psalm - “Blessed is the man” - is the first one found in the book of psalms, the Psalter, and is, as it were, an indication and warning to believers against erroneous, sinful paths of life.

In modern liturgical practice, only a few verses of this psalm are performed, which are solemnly sung with the refrain “hallelujah.” In monasteries at this time, not only is the first psalm “Blessed is the man” sung, but the entire first “kathisma” of the Psalter is also read in full. The Greek word “kathisma” means “sitting,” since according to church regulations it is allowed to sit while reading kathisma. The entire Psalter, consisting of 150 psalms, is divided into 20 kathismas or groups of psalms. Each kathisma, in turn, is divided into three parts or “glories”, because it ends with the words “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” The entire Psalter, all 20 kathismas are read at services throughout each week. During Great Lent, the forty-day period preceding Easter, when church prayer is more intense, the Psalter is read twice a week.

The Psalter was accepted into the liturgical life of the Church from the first days of its foundation and occupies a very honorable place in it. A Saint wrote about the Psalter in the 4th century:

“The Book of Psalms contains in itself what is useful from all books. She prophesies about the future, brings to memory events of the past, gives laws of life, offers rules for activity. The psalm is the silence of souls, the ruler of the world. The Psalter quenches rebellious and disturbing thoughts... there is peace from the daily labors. The psalm is the voice of the Church and perfect theology.”

Small Litany

Following the singing of the first psalm, the “Little Litany” is pronounced - “Let us pray again and again in peace to the Lord,” that is, “let us pray to the Lord again and again.” This litany is an abbreviation of the Great Litany and consists of 2 petitions:

“Intercede, save, have mercy and preserve us, O God, by Your grace.”

"Lord have mercy".

“Having remembered our Most Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and each other and our whole life to Christ our God.”

"To you, Lord."

The small litany ends with one of the priest’s exclamations prescribed by the charter.

At the All-Night Vigil, the sorrow and repentance of sinned humanity is conveyed in repentant psalms, which are sung in separate verses - with special solemnity and special melodies.

Psalm “Lord, I have cried” and incense

After singing “Blessed is the man” and the small litany, verses from Psalms 140 and 141 are heard, beginning with the words “Lord, I have called to You, hear me.” These psalms tell about the longing of a man who has fallen into sin for God, about his desire to make his service to God true. These psalms are the most characteristic feature of every Vespers. In the second verse of the 140th Psalm we find the words “Let my prayer be corrected, like a censer before You” (this prayerful sighing is highlighted in a special touching chant, which sounds during Lent at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts). While these verses are chanted, the entire temple is censed.

What is the meaning of this censing?

The Church gives the answer in the already mentioned words of the psalm: “Let my prayer be corrected as incense before You, the lifting of my hand as an evening sacrifice,” that is, let my prayer rise to You (God) like incense smoke; the lifting of my hands is like an evening sacrifice to You. This verse reminds us of that time in ancient times when, according to the law of Moses, in the evening of every day the evening sacrifice was offered in the tabernacle, that is, in the portable temple of the Israeli people, heading from Egyptian captivity to the Promised Land; it was accompanied by raising the hands of the person making the sacrifice and censing the altar, where the holy tablets received by Moses from God on the top of Mount Sinai were kept.

The rising smoke of incense symbolizes the prayers of believers rising to heaven. When the deacon or priest performing incense censes in the direction of the person praying, he in response bows his head as a sign that he accepts the incense in his direction as a reminder that the prayer of the believer should rise to heaven as easily as incense smoke. Each movement in the direction of those praying also reveals the deep truth that the Church sees in every person the image and likeness of God, a living icon of God, a betrothal to Christ received in the sacrament of Baptism.

During the censing of the temple, the singing of “Lord, I have cried...” continues, and our temple, cathedral prayer merges with this prayer, for we are just as sinful as the first people, and conciliarly, from the depths of the heart, the final words of the chant “Hear me, God".

I cried out verses to the Lord

Among the further repentant verses of the 140th and 141st psalms, “Bring my soul out of prison... From the depths I have cried to You, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice,” and so on, voices of hope for the promised Savior are heard.

This hope in the midst of sorrow is heard in the hymns after “Lord, I cried” - in spiritual songs, the so-called “Stichera on the Lord I cried.” If the verses before the stichera speak of Old Testament darkness and sorrow, then the stichera themselves (these refrains to the verses, like additions to them) speak of New Testament joy and light.

Stichera are church songs composed in honor of a holiday or saint. There are three types of stichera: the first are “stichera I cried to the Lord,” which, as we have already noted, are sung at the beginning of Vespers; the second, which sound at the end of Vespers, between verses taken from the psalms, are called “stichera on verse”; the third ones are sung before the end of the second part of the All-Night Vigil in conjunction with psalms in which the word “praise” is often used, and therefore are called “stichera on praise.”

Sunday stichera glorify the Resurrection of Christ, holiday stichera talk about the reflection of this glory in various sacred events or deeds of saints, for, ultimately, everything in church history is connected with Easter, with the victory of Christ over death and hell. From the texts of the stichera one can determine who or what event is remembered and glorified in the services of a given day.

Osmoglasie

The stichera, like the psalm “Lord, I have cried,” are also a characteristic feature of the All-Night Vigil. At Vespers, from six to ten stichera are sung in a certain “voice.” Since ancient times, there have been eight voices, composed by Ven. , who labored in the 8th century in the Palestinian monastery (Lavra) of St. Sava the Sanctified. Each voice includes several chants or melodies, according to which certain prayers are sung during worship. The voices change weekly. Every eight weeks the circle of the so-called “osmoglasiya”, that is, a series of eight voices, begins again. A collection of all these chants is contained in the liturgical book - “Octoichus” or “Osmoglasnik”.

Voices constitute one of the special striking features of Orthodox liturgical music. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the voices come in different chants: Greek, Kyiv, Znamenny, everyday.

Dogmatists

God's answer to the repentance and hope of Old Testament people was the birth of the Son of God. This is narrated by a special “Mother of God” stichera, which is sung immediately after the stichera on the Lord I cried. This stichera is called “Dogmatist” or “Virgin Dogmatist”. The dogmatists - there are only eight of them, for each voice - contain praise to the Mother of God and the teaching of the Church about the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the union in Him of two natures - Divine and human.

A distinctive feature of dogmatists is their exhaustive doctrinal meaning and poetic sublimity. Here is the Russian translation of Dogmatist 1st tone:

“Let us sing to the Virgin Mary, the glory of the whole world, who came from people and gave birth to the Lord. She is the heavenly door, sung by ethereal forces, She is the adornment of believers! She appeared as heaven and as a temple of the Divine - she destroyed the enemy’s barrier, gave peace and opened the Kingdom (Heavenly). Having Her as a stronghold of faith, we also have the Intercessor of the Lord born from Her. Go for it, people! Take heart, people of God, for he defeated his enemies like the Almighty.”

This dogmatist briefly outlines the Orthodox teaching about the human nature of the Savior. The main idea of ​​the Dogmatics of the First Tone is that the Mother of God came from ordinary people and She Herself was a simple person, and not a superman. Consequently, humanity, despite its sinfulness, nevertheless preserved its spiritual essence to such an extent that in the person of the Mother of God it turned out to be worthy to receive into its bosom the Divinity - Jesus Christ. The Most Holy Theotokos, according to the Fathers of the Church, is “the justification of humanity before God.” Humanity in the person of the Mother of God rose to heaven, and God, in the person of Jesus Christ, Who was born of Her, bowed to the ground - this is the meaning and essence of the incarnation of Christ, considered from the point of view of Orthodox Mariology, i.e. teachings about the Mother of God.

Here is the Russian translation of another Dogmatist of the 2nd tone:

“The shadow of the law passed away after grace appeared; and just as a bush that was scorched did not burn, so the Virgin gave birth - and remained a Virgin; instead of the (Old Testament) pillar of fire, the Sun of Truth (Christ) shone, instead of Moses (came) Christ, the salvation of our souls.”

The meaning of this dogmatist is that through the Virgin Mary grace and liberation from the burden of the Old Testament law came into the world, which is only a “shadow,” that is, a symbol of the future benefits of the New Testament. At the same time, the dogma of the 2nd tone emphasizes the “ever-virginity” of the Mother of God, depicted in the symbol of the burning bush, taken from the Old Testament. This “burning bush” is the thorn bush that Moses saw at the foot of Mount Sinai. According to the Bible, this bush burned and did not burn, that is, it was engulfed in flames, but itself did not burn.

Small entrance

The singing of the dogmatist at the All-Night Vigil symbolizes the union of earth and heaven. During the singing of the dogmatist, the royal doors are opened as a sign that paradise, in the sense of man’s communication with God, closed by the sin of Adam, is reopened by the coming to earth of the Adam of the New Testament - Jesus Christ. At this time, the “evening” or “small” entrance is made. Through the northern, side deacon door of the iconostasis, the priest comes out after the deacon, just as the Son of God appeared to people before John the Baptist. The choir ends the evening small entrance with the singing of the prayer “Quiet Light,” which says in words the same thing that the priest and deacon depict with the actions of the entrance - about the quiet, humble light of Christ, which appeared in the world in an almost unnoticed way.

Prayer "Quiet Light"

In the circle of chants used during services in the Orthodox Church, the song “Quiet Light” is known as the “evening song”, since it is sung at all evening services. In the words of this hymn, the children of the Church, “having come to the west of the sun, having seen the evening light, we sing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit of God.” From these words it is clear that the singing of “Quiet Light” was timed to coincide with the appearance of the soft light of the evening dawn, when the feeling of the touch of another higher light should be close to the believing soul. That is why in ancient times, at the sight of the setting sun, Christians poured out their feelings and prayerful mood of the soul to their “Quiet Light” - Jesus Christ, Who, according to the Apostle Paul, is the radiance of the glory of the Father (), the true sun of righteousness according to Old Testament prophecy (), the true non-evening light, eternal, unsetting, - according to the definition of the Evangelist John.

Small word "Let's hear"

Following the singing of “Quiet Light,” the serving clergy from the altar proclaim a series of small words: “let us remember,” “peace to all,” “wisdom.” These words are pronounced not only at the All-Night Vigil, but also at other services. These liturgical words repeated repeatedly in the church can easily escape our attention. They are small words, but with large and important content.

“Let us attend” is the imperative form of the verb “to attend.” In Russian we would say “we will be attentive”, “we will listen”.

Mindfulness is one of the important qualities in everyday life. But attentiveness is not always easy - our mind is prone to distraction and forgetfulness - it is difficult to force ourselves to be attentive. The Church knows this weakness of ours, so every now and then she tells us: “let’s pay attention,” we will listen, we will be attentive, we will collect, strain, tune our mind and memory to what we hear. Even more important: let us tune our hearts so that nothing that happens in the temple passes by. To listen means to unload and free oneself from memories, from empty thoughts, from worries, or, in church language, to rid oneself of “worldly worries.”

Greeting "Peace to all"

The small word “Peace to all” appears for the first time at the All-Night Vigil immediately after the small entrance and the prayer “Quiet Light.”

The word "peace" was a form of greeting among ancient peoples. Israelis still greet each other with the word “shalom.” This greeting was also used during the days of the Savior’s earthly life. The Hebrew word "shalom" is multifaceted in its meaning, and the New Testament translators had many difficulties before they settled on the Greek word "irini." In addition to its direct meaning, the word “shalom” contains a number of nuances, for example: “to be complete, healthy, intact.” Its main meaning is dynamic. It means “to live well” - in prosperity, prosperity, health, and so on. All this was understood both in a material and in a spiritual sense, in a personal and social order. In a figurative sense, the word “shalom” meant good relationships between different people, families and nations, between husband and wife, between man and God. Therefore, the antonym or opposite of this word was not necessarily “war,” but rather anything that could disrupt or destroy individual well-being or good social relations. In this broad sense, the word “peace”, “shalom” meant a special gift that God gave to Israel for the sake of His Covenant with Him, i.e. agreement, because in a very special way this word was expressed in a priestly blessing.

It is in this sense that this word of greeting was used by the Savior. With it He greeted the apostles, as it is narrated in the Gospel of John: “On the first day of the week (after the resurrection of Christ from the dead) ... Jesus came and stood in the midst (of His disciples) and said to them: “Peace be with you!” And then: “Jesus said to them a second time: Peace be with you! As the Father sent Me, so I send you.” And this is not just a formal greeting, as often happens in our human everyday life: Christ quite realistically puts His disciples into peace, knowing that they will have to go through the abyss of hostility, persecution and martyrdom.

This is the world about which the letters of the Apostle Paul say that it is not of this world, that it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. That this world is from Christ, for “He is our peace.”

That is why during divine services bishops and priests so often and repeatedly bless the people of God with the sign of the cross and the words: “peace to all!”

Prokeimenon

After greeting all those praying with the words of the Savior “peace to all!” follows "prokeimenon". "Prokeimenon" means "preceding" and is a short statement of Scripture that is read along with another verse or several verses that complete the thought of the prokeimenon, before reading a larger passage of Scripture from the Old or New Testament. The Sunday prokeimenon (6th tone), pronounced on the eve of Sunday during Vespers, is proclaimed at the altar and repeated by the choir.

Proverbs

"Proverbs" literally means "parable" and is a passage of Scripture from the Old or New Testament. According to the instructions of the Church, these readings (proverbs) are read on the days of great holidays and contain prophecies about an event or person remembered on that day or praise for a holiday or saint. Most of the time there are three proverbs, but sometimes there are more. For example, on Holy Saturday, on the eve of Easter, 15 proverbs are read.

The Great Litany

With the coming of Christ into the world, represented in the actions of the Little Evening Entry, the closeness between God and man increased, and their prayerful communication also intensified. That is why, immediately after the prokeme and readings of the proverbs, the Church invites believers to intensify their prayerful communication with God through a “deep litany.” Individual petitions of the special litany resemble the content of the first litany of Vespers - the Great, but the special litany is also accompanied by prayer for the departed. The special litany begins with the words “With all our voices (that is, we will say everything) with all our souls and with all our thoughts...” To each petition, the choir, on behalf of all the pilgrims, responds with a triple “Lord, have mercy.”

Prayer “Vouchsafe, Lord”

After the special litany, the prayer “Grant, O Lord,” is read. This prayer, part of which is read at Matins in the Great Doxology, was composed in the Syrian Church in the 4th century.

Litany of Petition

Following the reading of the prayer “Grant, O Lord,” the final litany of Vespers, the “petitionary litany,” is offered. In it, each, except the first two petitions, is followed by the response of the choir, “Give, Lord,” that is, a more bold appeal to the Lord than the repentant “Lord, have mercy,” which is heard in other litanies. In the first litanies of Vespers, believers prayed for the well-being of the world and the Church, i.e. about external well-being. In the litany of petition there is a prayer for prosperity in spiritual life, i.e. about ending a given day sinlessly, about the Guardian Angel, about forgiveness of sins, about a calm Christian death and about being able to give Christ a correct account of one’s life at the Last Judgment.

Bowing of heads

After the Litany of Petition, the Church calls on those praying to bow their heads before the Lord. At this moment, the priest turns to God with a special “secret” prayer, which he reads to himself. It contains the idea that those who bow their heads expect help not from people, but from God, and ask Him to protect those praying from every enemy, both external and internal, i.e. from bad thoughts and dark temptations. “Bowing the head” is an external symbol of the departure of believers under the protection of God.

Lithium

Following this, on major holidays and on the days of remembrance of especially revered saints, a “lithium” is celebrated. “Litya” means intense prayer. It begins with the singing of special stichera glorifying the holiday or saint of the given day. At the beginning of the singing of the stichera “at litia,” the clergy depart from the altar through the northern deacon’s door of the iconostasis. The Royal Doors remain closed. A candle is carried ahead. When the lithium is performed outside the church, on the occasion, for example, of national disasters or on days of remembrance of deliverance from them, it is combined with prayer singing and a procession of the cross. There are also funeral litias performed in the vestibule after Vespers or Matins.

Prayer “Now Letting Go”

After singing the “stichera on the stichera”, it is read “Now you have forgiven Your servant, O Master...” - that is, the doxology pronounced by St. Simeon the God-Receiver, when he received the Divine Infant Christ in his arms in the Jerusalem Temple on the fortieth day after His Nativity. In this prayer, the Old Testament elder thanks God for making him worthy before his death to see Salvation (Christ), which was given by God for the glory of Israel and for the enlightenment of the pagans and the whole world. Here is the Russian translation of this prayer:

“Now dost thou release (me) thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace; For mine eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all nations, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel.”

The first part of the All-Night Vigil - Vespers - is nearing its end. Vespers begins with the remembrance of the creation of the world, the first page of Old Testament history, and ends with the prayer “Now let us go,” symbolizing the end of Old Testament history.

Trisagion

Immediately after the prayer of Saint Simeon the God-Receiver, the “trisagion” is read, which contains the prayers “Holy God”, “Holy Trinity”, “Our Father” and the exclamation of the priest “For Thine is the kingdom”.

Following the Trisagion, the troparion is sung. A “troparion” is a short and condensed prayer address to a saint whose memory is celebrated on a given day or the memory of a sacred event of that day. A specific feature of the troparion is a brief description of the person being glorified or the event associated with him. At Sunday Vespers, the troparion of the Mother of God “Rejoice, Virgin Mary” is sung three times. This troparion is sung at the end of Sunday Vespers because the joy of the Resurrection of Christ was proclaimed after the joy of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that She would give birth to the Son of God. The words of this troparion consist mainly of an angelic greeting to the Mother of God.

If a litia is celebrated at the All-Night Vigil, then during the three-time singing of the troparion, the priest or deacon censes three times around the table with bread, wheat, oil and wine. Then the priest reads a prayer in which he asks God to “bless the loaves, wheat, wine and oil, multiply them throughout the world and sanctify those who eat from them.” Before reading this prayer, the priest first slightly lifts one of the loaves and draws a cross in the air above the other loaves. This action is performed in memory of Christ’s miraculous feeding of 5,000 people with five loaves.

In the old days, blessed bread and wine were distributed to those praying for refreshment during the service, which lasted “all-night vigil,” that is, all night. In modern liturgical practice, blessed bread, cut into small pieces, is distributed when worshipers are anointed with blessed oil at Matins (this ritual will be discussed later). The rite of blessing the loaves goes back to the liturgical practice of the first Christians and is a remnant of the early Christian “Vespers of Love” - “Agape”.

At the end of the litia, in the consciousness of God’s mercies, the choir sings three times the verse “Blessed be the name of the Lord from now on and forever.” The Liturgy also ends with this verse.

The priest ends the first part of the All-Night Vigil - Vespers - from the pulpit, teaching the worshipers the ancient blessing in the name of the incarnate Jesus Christ with the words “The blessing of the Lord is upon you, by His grace and love for mankind always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.”

Part II. MATTNS

The services of Vespers and Matins define the day. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, we read: “and there was evening, and there was morning: one day (). Therefore, in ancient times, the first part of the All-Night Vigil - Vespers - ended in the dead of night, and the second part of the All-Night Vigil - Matins, was prescribed by church regulations to be performed at such hours that its last part coincided with dawn. In modern practice, Matins is most often moved to a later hour in the morning (if performed separately from Vespers) or back, to the eve of the given day.

Six Psalms

Matins, celebrated in the context of the All-Night Vigil, immediately begins with the reading of the “Six Psalms,” that is, six selected psalms, namely 3, 37, 62, 87, 102 and 142, read in this order and united into one liturgical whole. The reading of the Six Psalms is preceded by two biblical texts: the Bethlehem angelic doxology - “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men,” which is read three times. Then the verse from Psalm 50 is recited twice: “Lord, you have opened my mouth, and my mouth will declare Your praise.”

The first of these texts, the angelic doxology, briefly but vividly notes the three main and interconnected aspirations of a Christian’s life: upward to God, expressed in the words “Glory to God in the highest,” in breadth to others in the words “and on earth peace,” and in depth your heart - an aspiration expressed in the words of the doxology “good will toward men.” All these aspirations up, in breadth, in depth create in general the symbol of the cross, which is thus a symbol of the ideal of Christian life, giving peace with God, peace with people and peace in the soul.

According to the rules, during the reading of the Six Psalms, the candles in the church are extinguished (this is not usually practiced in parishes). The ensuing darkness marks that deep night in which Christ came to earth, glorified by the angelic singing: “Glory to God in the highest.” The twilight of the temple promotes greater prayerful concentration.

The Six Psalms contains a whole range of experiences that illuminate New Testament Christian life - not only its general joyful mood, but also the sorrowful path to this joy.

In the middle of the sixth psalm, during the beginning of the reading of the 4th, the most mournful psalm filled with mortal bitterness, the priest leaves the altar and in front of the royal doors silently continues to read 12 special “morning” prayers, which he began to read in the altar, in front of the throne. At this moment, the priest, as it were, symbolizes Christ, Who heard the sorrow of fallen humanity and not only descended, but also shared its suffering to the end, which is spoken of in Psalm 87, read at this time.

The “morning” prayers, which the priest reads to himself, contain a prayer for the Christians standing in the church, a request to forgive them their sins, to give them sincere faith in unfeigned love, to bless all their deeds and to honor them with the Kingdom of Heaven.

Great Litany

After the end of the Six Psalms and morning prayers, the Great Litany is said again, as at the beginning of the All-Night Vigil, at Vespers. Its meaning in this place at the beginning of Matins is that the Intercessor who appeared on earth, Christ, whose birth was glorified at the beginning of the Six Psalms, will fulfill all requests for the spiritual and physical benefits spoken of in this litany.

Sunday Troparion

After the Peaceful, or as it is also called the “Great” litany, the singing from Psalm 117 sounds - “God is the Lord, and having appeared to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Church Charter appointed the singing of these words in this very place of Matins in order to direct our thoughts to the memory of Christ’s entrance into public ministry. This verse seems to continue the glorification of the Savior, begun at the beginning of Matins during the reading of the Six Psalms. These words also served as a greeting to Jesus Christ at His last entry into Jerusalem to suffer on the cross. The exclamation “God is the Lord, and has appeared to us...” and then the reading of three special verses are proclaimed by the deacon or priest in front of the main or local icon of the Savior on the iconostasis. The choir then repeats the first verse, “God is the Lord, and He has appeared to us...”.

Singing and reading poetry should convey a joyful, solemn mood. Therefore, the candles that were extinguished during the reading of the penitential Six Psalms are re-lit.

Immediately after the verses “God is the Lord,” a Sunday troparion is sung, in which the holiday is glorified and, as it were, the essence of the words “God is the Lord, and appeared to us” is explained. The Sunday troparion tells of the suffering of Christ and His resurrection from the dead - events that will be covered in detail in further parts of the Matins service.

Kathismas

After the Peaceful Litany, the verses “God is the Lord” and troparions, the 2nd and 3rd kathismas are read at the Sunday All-Night Vigil. As we have already said, the Greek word “kathisma” means “sitting,” since according to church regulations, while reading kathisma, worshipers are allowed to sit.

The entire Psalter, consisting of 150 psalms, is divided into 20 kathismas, i.e. groups or chapters of psalms. Each kathisma, in turn, is divided into three “glories”, because each section of the kathisma ends with the words “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” After each “glory,” the choir sings “Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, glory to you, O God,” three times.

Kathismas are an expression of a repentant, contemplative spirit. They call for reflection on sins and are accepted by the Orthodox Church as part of its divine services so that those listening delve into their own lives, into their actions and deepen their repentance before God.

The 2nd and 3rd kathismas, read at Sunday Matins, are prophetic in nature. They describe the suffering of Christ: His humiliation, the piercing of His hands and feet, the dividing of His clothes with the casting of lots, His death and resurrection from the dead.

Kathismas at the Sunday All-Night Vigil lead worshipers to the central and most solemn part of the service - to the “polyeleos”.

Polyeleos

“Praise the name of the Lord. Hallelujah". These and subsequent words, extracted from the 134th and 135th psalms, begin the most solemn moment of the Sunday all-night vigil - “polyeleos” - dedicated to the remembrance of the Resurrection of Christ.

The word “polyeleos” comes from two Greek words that are translated as “much-merciful singing”: polyeleos consists of singing “Praise the name of the Lord” with the refrain “for His mercy endureth forever” returning at the end of each verse of the psalms, where the Lord is glorified for his many mercies to the human race and, above all, for its salvation and redemption.

On the polyeleos, the royal doors open, the entire temple is illuminated, and the clergy emerge from the altar, censing the entire temple. In these sacred rites, worshipers actually see, for example, in the opening of the royal doors, how Christ rose from the tomb and reappeared among His disciples - an event depicted in the departure of the clergy from the altar to the middle of the temple. At this time, the singing of the psalm “Praise the name of the Lord” continues, with the refrain of the angelic exclamation “Hallelujah” (Praise the Lord), as if on behalf of the angels, calling on those praying to glorify the risen Lord.

“Much merciful singing” - polyeleos, is especially characteristic of the all-night vigil on Sunday and major holidays, since here the mercy of God was especially felt and it is especially appropriate to praise His name and give thanks for this mercy.

To Psalms 134 and 135, which make up the content of the polyeleos in the weeks preparatory to Great Lent, is also added the short 136th Psalm, beginning with the words “On the rivers of Babylon.” This psalm tells of the suffering of the Jews in Babylonian captivity and conveys their grief for their lost fatherland. This psalm is sung a few weeks before the start of Great Lent so that the “New Israel” - Christians, during the Holy Pentecost, through repentance and abstinence, would strive for their spiritual homeland, the Kingdom of Heaven, just as the Jews sought to be freed from the Babylonian captivity and return to their homeland - the Promised Land.

Greatness

On the days of the Lord and the Mother of God, as well as on days when the memory of a particularly revered saint is celebrated, the polyeleos is followed by the singing of “magnification” - a short verse praising the holiday or saint of the given day. The magnification is first sung by the clergy from the middle of the temple in front of the icon of the holiday. Then, during the censing of the entire temple, the choir repeats this text many times.

Sunday Immaculates

The first to learn about the resurrection of Christ, and the first to announce it to people, were angels, therefore the polyeleos, as if on their behalf, begins with the song “Praise the name of the Lord.” After the angels, the myrrh-bearing wives learned about the resurrection, coming to the tomb of Christ according to ancient Jewish custom to anoint the body of Christ with fragrant oils. Therefore, following the singing of the angelic “Praise,” Sunday troparions are sung, telling about the visit of the myrrh-bearing women to the tomb, the appearance of an angel to them with the news of the resurrection of the Savior and the command to tell His apostles about this. Before each troparion the chorus is sung: “Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me by thy justification.” And finally, the last of the followers of Jesus Christ to learn about His resurrection from the dead were the apostles. This moment in gospel history is celebrated in the culminating part of the entire All-Night Vigil - in the reading of the Sunday Gospel.

Before reading the Gospel, there are several preparatory exclamations and prayers. So, after Sunday troparions and a short, “small” litany, which is an abbreviation of the “great” litany, special hymns are sung - “separate”. These ancient chants consist of verses from 15 psalms. These psalms are called “songs of degrees”, since in the Old Testament period of the history of the Jewish people these psalms were sung by two choirs facing each other on the “steps” of the Jerusalem Temple. Most often, the 1st part of the sedate 4th voice is sung to the text “From my youth, many passions have fought me.”

Prayerful preparation for the Gospel reading

The culmination of the All-Night Vigil is the reading of a passage from the Gospel about the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. According to church regulations, several preparatory prayers are required before reading the Gospel. The relatively long preparation of worshipers for reading the Gospel is explained by the fact that the Gospel is, so to speak, a book “with seven seals” and a “stumbling block” for those whom the Church will not teach it to understand and listen to it. In addition, the Holy Fathers teach that in order to derive maximum spiritual benefit from reading the Holy Scriptures, a Christian must first pray. In this case, this is what the prayerful introduction to the reading of the Gospel at the All-Night Vigil serves.

Prayerful preparation for the Gospel reading consists of the following liturgical elements: first, the deacon says “let us be attentive” and “wisdom.” Then follows the “prokeimenon” of the Gospel that will be read. The prokeimenon, as we have already said, is a short saying from Holy Scripture (usually from some psalm), which is read along with another verse that complements the thought of the prokeimenon. The prokeimenon and the prokeimenon verse are proclaimed by the deacon, and the prokeimenon is repeated in chorus three times.

The polyeleos, a solemn laudatory introduction to hearing the Gospel, ends with the doxology “For holy art thou...” and the singing “Let every breath praise the Lord.” This doxology, in essence, has the following meaning: “let everything that has life praise the Lord who gives life.” Further, the wisdom, holiness and goodness of the Lord, the Creator and Savior of every creature, is explained and preached by the holy word of the Gospel.

“Forgive wisdom, let us hear the Holy Gospel.” The word “sorry” means directly. This word is an invitation to stand upright and listen to the Word of God with reverence and spiritual integrity.

Reading the Gospel

As we have said more than once, the culminating moment of the All-Night Vigil is the reading of the Gospel. In this reading, the voice of the apostles is heard - preachers of the resurrection of Christ.

There are eleven Sunday Gospel readings, and throughout the year they are alternately read at Saturday all-night vigils, one after another, telling about the resurrection of the Savior and His appearances to the myrrh-bearing women and disciples.

The reading of the Sunday Gospel takes place from the altar, since this main part of the Orthodox church in this case represents the Holy Sepulcher. On other holidays, the Gospel is read among the people, because an icon of the celebrated saint or sacred event, the meaning of which is proclaimed by the Gospel, is placed among the church.

After reading the Sunday Gospel, the priest brings out the Holy Book for kissing; he comes out of the altar, as if from the tomb, and holds the Gospel, showing, like an angel, Christ Whom he preached. The parishioners bow to the Gospel, like disciples, and kiss it, like the myrrh-bearing wife, and everyone sings “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ.”

From the moment of polyeleos, the triumph and joy of our communion with Christ increases. This part of the All-Night Vigil inspires those praying that in the person of Jesus Christ heaven comes to earth. The Church also instills in its children that, while listening to the chants of Polyeleos, one must always keep in mind the coming day and with it the Meal of Eternity - the Divine Liturgy, which is not only an image of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, but its earthly accomplishment in all its immutability and completeness.

The Kingdom of Heaven must be greeted with a spirit of contrition and repentance. That is why, immediately after the joyful chant “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ,” the repentant 50th Psalm is read, beginning with the words “Have mercy on me, O God.” Only on the holy Easter night and throughout Easter week, once a year, is permission given for such a completely carefree, repentant and completely joyful delight, when the 50th Psalm falls out of the service.

The penitential psalm “Have mercy on me, O God” ends with prayerful calls for the intercession of the apostles and the Mother of God, and then the opening verse of the 50th psalm is repeated again: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy, and according to the multitude of Thy mercies, cleanse my iniquity!”

Further, in the stichera “Jesus rose from the grave, as he prophesied (i.e., as he predicted), he would give us eternal life (i.e., eternal life), and great mercy” - a synthesis of Sunday celebration and repentance is given. “Great mercy,” which Christ provides to the repentant is the gift of “eternal life.”

According to the Church, the Resurrection of Christ sanctified the nature of everyone who unites with Christ. This consecration is shown in the most important moving part of the All-Night Vigil - the canon.

Canon

The miracle of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ sanctified human nature. The Church reveals this sanctification to those praying in the next part of the All-Night Vigil after the Gospel reading - the “canon”. The canon in modern liturgical practice consists of 9 odes or songs. Each canon of the canon consists of a certain number of individual troparions or stanzas.

Each canon has one subject of glorification: the Most Holy Trinity, an evangelical or church event, a prayer to the Mother of God, the blessing of a saint or saints of a given day. In the Sunday canons (at Saturday all-night vigils), the resurrection of Christ and the sanctification of the world that follows it, the victory over sin and death, are glorified. The holiday canons highlight in detail the meaning of the holiday and the life of the saint, as an example of the transformation of the world already taking place. In these canons, the Church, as it were, triumphs, contemplating the reflections of this transfiguration, the victory of Christ over sin and death.

The canons are read, but the initial verses of each of his individual songs are sung in chorus. These initial verses are called “irmos” (from the Greek: bind.) Irmos is the model for all subsequent troparions of this song.

The model for the opening verse of the canon - irmos - is a separate event from the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, which has a representative, that is, prophetic-symbolic meaning for the New Testament. For example, the irmos of the 1st canto recalls, in the light of Christian thought, the miraculous passage of the Jews across the Red Sea; The Lord is glorified in it as the Almighty Deliverer from evil and slavery. The Irmos of the 2nd canto is built on the material of the accusatory song of Moses in the Sinai desert, which he uttered to awaken a sense of repentance among the Jews who fled from Egypt. The 2nd canticle is sung only during Great Lent. The Irmos of the 3rd canto is based on a song of thanksgiving from Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, for giving her a son. In the irmos of the 4th canto, a Christian interpretation is given of the appearance of the Lord God to the prophet Habakkuk in the brilliance of sunlight from behind a wooded mountain. In this phenomenon the Church sees the glory of the coming Savior. In the 5th Irmos of the canon, the motif of which is taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah, Christ is glorified as a peacemaker and it also contains a prophecy about the resurrection from the dead. The 6th Irmos is from the story of the prophet Jonah, who was thrown into the sea and swallowed by a whale. This event, according to the Church, should remind Christians of their immersion in the sinful abyss. This irmos also expresses the idea that there is no such misfortune and horror among which the voice of one praying with all his heart would not be heard. The Irmos of the 7th and 8th songs of the canon are based on the songs of the three Jewish youths thrown into the fiery Babylonian furnace. This event is a pre-depiction of Christian martyrdom. Between the 8th and 9th songs of the canon, in honor of the Mother of God, a song is sung, beginning with the words “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior,” with the refrain “More honorable than the Cherub and more glorious without comparison than the Seraphim.” This glorification of the Mother of God begins with the deacon, who first censes the altar and the right side of the iconostasis. Then, stopping in front of the local icon of the Mother of God on the iconostasis, he raises the censer into the air and proclaims: “Theotokos and Mother of Light, let us exalt in songs.” The choir responds with a glorification of the Mother of God, during which the deacon censes the entire church. Irmos of the 9th canto always glorifies the Mother of God. After the canon, the small litany “Let us pray again and again in peace to the Lord” is heard for the last time at the All-Night Vigil, which is an abbreviated version of the Great or Peaceful Litany. At the Sunday All-Night Vigil, after the small litany and the exclamation of the priest, the deacon proclaims “Holy is the Lord our God”; these words are repeated in chorus three times.

Svetilen

At this time, in monasteries that strictly adhere to the letter of the church charter, or in those places where the All-Night Vigil actually continues “all night”, the sun rises. And this approach of light is celebrated with special chants. The first of them is called “luminary”, which has approximately the following meaning: “heralding the approach of light.” This chant is also called by the Greek word “exapostilary” - a verb that means “I send out”, because to sing these spiritual songs the singer is “sent out” from the choir to the middle of the temple. Let us note that the exapostilarian luminaries include the well-known hymns of Holy Week - “I see Thy chamber, O my Savior,” as well as another luminary of Holy Week, “The Prudent Thief.” Of the most famous Mother of God lamps, we will mention the one that is sung on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God - “Apostles from the end.”

Stichera on praise

Following the luminary, the verse “Let every breath praise the Lord” is sung and the 148th, 149th and 150th psalms are read. These three psalms are called “praise” because the word “praise” is repeated often in them. These three psalms are accompanied by special stichera, called “stichera on praises.” As a rule, they are sung at the end of Psalm 149 and after each verse of the short Psalm 150. The content of the “stichera on praises,” like other stichera on the All-Night Vigil, praises the Gospel or church event celebrated on a given day or the memory of a particular saint or saints.

Great Doxology

As we have already mentioned, in ancient times, or even now, in those monasteries where the All-Night Vigil is actually celebrated “all night,” the sun rises in the second half of Matins. At this time, the Lord, the Giver of Light, is glorified with a special, ancient Christian hymn - the “Great Doxology,” beginning with the words “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.” But first, the priest, standing in the altar in front of the throne, with the royal doors open, proclaims: “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light.”

End of Matins

Matins at the All-Night Vigil ends with “pure” and “petitionary” litanies - the same litanies that were read at the beginning of the All-Night Vigil at Vespers. Then the last blessing of the priest and the “dismissal” are given. The priest prayerfully turns to the Mother of God with the words “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!” The choir responds with the doxology of the Mother of God, “Most honorable is the Cherub and most glorious without comparison is the Seraphim...” Following this, the priest once again glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ with the exclamation “Glory to Thee, Christ our God, our hope, glory to Thee.” The choir responds “Glory, even now...”, showing by this that the glory of Christ is also the glory of the Most Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus, the All-Night Vigil ends as it began - with the doxology of the Holy Trinity.

Watch

Following the last blessing of the priest, the “First Hour” is read - the last, final part of the All-Night Vigil.

As we have already said, the main idea of ​​Matins is the joyful consciousness of believers that everyone who unites with Christ will be saved and resurrected with Him. According to the Church, one can unite with Christ only with a sense of humility and awareness of one’s unworthiness. Therefore, the All-Night Vigil does not end with the triumph and joy of Matins, but is joined by another third part, the third service - the First Hour, a service of humble, repentant aspiration to God.

In addition to the First Hour, there are three more hours in the daily liturgical circle of the Orthodox Church: the Third and Sixth, which are read together before the start of the Divine Liturgy, and the Ninth Hour, read before the start of Vespers. From a formal point of view, the content of the clock is determined by the selection of material relevant to a given hour of the day. However, the mystical, spiritual significance of the hours is quite special, since they are dedicated to the remembrance of the various stages of the passion of Christ. The spirit of these services is always concentrated and serious, with a Lenten-passionate imprint. Characteristic of the hours is the predominance of reading over singing, which they also have in common with the services of Great Lent.

Subject Three o'clock- handing over the Savior to be mocked and beaten. Another New Testament memory is also connected with the Third Hour - the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. In addition, in the Third Hour we will find a prayer for help, for protection in the external and internal struggle against evil and repentance expressed in the 50th psalm, “God have mercy on me,” which is read in the third hour.

Liturgical Sixth hour corresponds to the hour when Christ was crucified and nailed to the cross. In the Sixth Hour, as if on behalf of the person praying, bitterness from the militant evil in the world is expressed, but at the same time, hope for God's help. This hope is especially strongly expressed in the third psalm of this hour, the 90th, which begins with the words: “He who lives in the help of the Most High will dwell in the shelter of the Heavenly God.”

Ninth hour- the hour when Christ on the cross gave the thief paradise and surrendered His soul to God the Father, and then rose from the dead. In the psalms of the Ninth Hour one can already hear thanksgiving to Christ for the salvation of the world.

This, in brief, is the content of the Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours. But let us return to the final part of the All-Night Vigil - the First Hour.

Its general character, in addition to the associated memories of the first stage of the suffering of Jesus Christ, consists in expressing grateful feelings to God for the coming daylight and instructions on the path pleasing to Him during the coming day. All this is expressed in the three psalms, which are read at the First Hour, as well as in other prayers of this hour, especially in the prayer “For all time,” which is read at all four hours. In this prayer, believers ask for unity in faith and true knowledge of God. Such knowledge, according to the Church, is the source of future spiritual benefits for Christians, that is, salvation and eternal life. The Lord speaks about this in the Gospel of John: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” The Orthodox Church teaches that knowledge of God is possible only through love and like-mindedness. That is why at the Liturgy, before the confession of faith in the Creed, it is proclaimed: “Let us love one another, that we may be of one mind. Father and Son and Holy Spirit, Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible."

Following the prayer “And for all time...” the priest leaves the altar in a humble form - in only an epitrachelion, without shiny vestments. The temple is in twilight. In such a situation, the priest ends the First Hour, and thus the entire All-Night Vigil, with a prayer to Christ, in which He is glorified as “the true light that enlightens every person who comes into the world.” At the end of the prayer, the priest mentions the Mother of God, addressing Her icon on the iconostasis. The choir responds with a solemn hymn from the Annunciation Akathist to the Mother of God “To the Chosen Voivode.”

Completion of the All-Night Vigil

The All-Night Vigil very clearly expresses the spirit of Orthodoxy, which, as the Holy Fathers of the Church teach, “is the spirit of resurrection, transfiguration and deification of man.” At the All-Night Vigil, as in Orthodox Christianity in general, two Easters are experienced: “Easter of the Crucifixion” and “Easter of the Resurrection.” And the All-Night Vigil, especially in the form in which it is celebrated on Sundays, is determined in its structure and content by the services of Holy and Easter weeks. Vladimir Ilyin, in his book about the All-Night Vigil, published in Paris in the 20s, writes about it this way:

“The All-Night Vigil and its soul - the Jerusalem Rule, the “Eye of the Church”, grew and perfected at the Holy Sepulcher. And, in general, the night services at the Holy Sepulcher are the cradle from which the wonderful garden of Orthodox services of the daily circle has grown, the best flower of which is the All-Night Vigil. If the source of the Orthodox liturgy is the Last Supper of Christ in the house of Joseph of Arimathea, then the source of the All-Night Vigil is at the Life-Giving Tomb of the Lord, which opened the world to the heavenly abodes and exuded to people the bliss of eternal life.”

Afterword

So, our series dedicated to the All-Night Vigil is completed. We hope that readers have benefited from our humble work, designed to help the believing soul appreciate the beauty and depth of this wondrous service.

We live in a very hectic world, in which it is sometimes difficult to find time to enter at least a few minutes into the inner chamber of our soul and enjoy silence, prayer, gather our thoughts to think about our future spiritual destiny, to listen to the voice of our conscience and cleanse your heart in the Sacrament of Confession. The Church gives us this opportunity during the hours when the All-Night Vigil is celebrated.

How nice it would be to teach yourself and your family to love this service. To begin with, one could attend the All-Night Vigil at least once every two weeks or once a month. One has only to begin and the Lord will reward us with a precious spiritual reward - He will visit our heart, dwell in it and reveal to us the richest, most spacious world of church prayer. Let us not deny ourselves this opportunity.

All-night vigil

On Sundays and holidays, a special service to God is performed in the evening (and in other places in the morning), usually called the all-night vigil, or all-night vigil.

This service is called so because in ancient times it began in the evening and ended in the morning, therefore, the entire pre-holiday night was spent by believers in church in prayer. And nowadays there are such saints. monastery, where the all-night vigil continues for about six hours from its beginning.

The custom of Christians to spend the night in prayer is very ancient. The apostles, partly following the example of the Savior, Who more than once in His earthly life used the night time for prayer, partly out of fear of their enemies, had prayer meetings at night. The first Christians, fearing persecution by idolaters and Jews, prayed at night on holidays and days of remembrance of martyrs in country caves, or so-called catacombs.

The All-Night Vigil depicts the history of the salvation of the human race through the coming to earth of the Son of God and consists of three parts, or divisions: Vespers, Matins and the first hour.

The beginning of the all-night vigil takes place like this: the royal doors open, the priest with a censer and the deacon with a candle cense the St. altar; then the deacon speaks from the pulpit: Arise, Lord bless! The priest says: glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and indivisible Trinity always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Then the priest calls on the faithful to worship Christ the King and our God; The singers sing selected passages from Psalm 103: Bless the Lord, my soul... O Lord my God, you are greatly exalted (i.e., very much)... There will be waters on the mountains... Wonderful are your works, O Lord! With wisdom you have created all things!.. Glory to Thee, O Lord, who created all things. Meanwhile, the priest and the deacon, having censed the altar, go around the entire church with a censer and cense St. icons and worshipers; after this, towards the end of the singing of Psalm 103, they enter the altar, and the royal doors are closed.

This singing and the actions of the priest and the deacon before they enter the altar remind us of the creation of the world and the happy life of the first people in paradise. The closing of the royal doors depicts the expulsion of the first people from paradise for the sin of disobedience to God; The litany, which the deacon says after closing the royal doors, recalls the joyless life of our forefathers outside paradise and our constant need for God's help.

After the litany, we hear the singing of the first psalm of King David: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and the way of the wicked perishes; work (serve) the Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling; Blessed are all who hope nan (in Him). Arise, Lord, save me, my God; Salvation is the Lord's, and Your blessing is upon Your people. Selected passages from this psalm are sung in order to depict both the sorrowful thoughts of our forefather Adam on the occasion of his fall, and the advice and admonitions with which our forefather Adam addresses his descendants in the words of King David. Each verse from this psalm is separated by the angelic praise of alleluia, which means in Hebrew, praise God.

After the small litany, two touching prayers are sung to the Lord God: Lord, I have called to You, hear me. Hear me, Lord, Lord, I have cried to You, hear me; Hear the voice of my prayer, always cry to You, hear me, Lord! (Psalm 140)

May my prayer be corrected as incense before You, the lifting of my hand as an evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!

May my prayer come like incense before You; the raising of my hands shall be the evening sacrifice. Hear me, Lord!

This singing reminds us that without God’s help it is difficult for a person to live on earth; he constantly needs God's help, which we remove from ourselves by our sins.

When the prayers following the singing of the Lord, called stichera, are sung, the evening entrance takes place.

It is performed as follows: during the last stichera in honor of the Mother of God, the royal doors are opened, first the candle-bearer with a burning candle leaves the altar with a burning candle, then the deacon with a censer and the priest. The deacon censes St. icons of the iconostasis, and the priest stands on the pulpit. After singing the hymn of the Mother of God, the deacon stands at the royal doors and, depicting the cross as a censer, proclaims: wisdom, forgive! The singers respond with the following touching song of the holy martyr Athenogenes, who lived in the 2nd century after Christ:

Quiet light of holy glory, Immortal Father in heaven, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ! Having come to the west of the sun, having seen the evening light, we sing of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit of God. Thou art worthy at all times to sing the voices of reverends, O Son of God, giving life: with the same the world glorifies Thee.

The quiet light of the holy glory, the Immortal Father in heaven, Jesus Christ! Having reached sunset, having seen the evening light, we sing praises to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. You, Son of God, life giver, are worthy to be sung at all times by the voices of the saints. Therefore the world glorifies You.

What does the evening entrance signify? Taking out the candle means the appearance before the coming of Christ by St. John the Baptist, whom the Lord Himself called a lamp. The priest, during the evening entrance, depicts the Savior who came into the world to atone for the guilt of man before the Lord. The words of the deacon: forgive wisdom! They instill in us that we should stand and watch sacred actions with special attention, praying to the Lord to forgive us all our sins.

While singing Sveta, a quiet priest enters the altar and kisses St. throne and stands on a high place, turning his face to the people. By this action, he depicts the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven and His enthronement in all glory over the world, therefore the singers, following the singing of the Quiet Light, sing: The Lord reigned, clothed with beauty, i.e. That Jesus Christ, after His ascension, reigned over the world and clothed itself with beauty. This verse is taken from the psalms of King David and is called the prokeemne; it is always sung on Sunday. On other days of the week, other prokeimnas are sung, also taken from the Psalms of David.

After the prokemna, on the twelfth and Mother of God holidays and on holidays in honor of the holy saints of God, especially those we honor, paremias are read, or small three readings appropriate for the holidays from the books of the Old and New Testaments. Before each proverb, the deacon’s exclamation of wisdom indicates the important content of what is being read, and with the deacon’s exclamation let us hear! It is suggested that we should be attentive while reading and not be mentally entertained by foreign objects.

Litia and blessing of the loaves.

Following the strict and petitionary litanies, sometimes on more solemn holidays a litany and blessing of the loaves are performed.

This part of the all-night service is performed as follows: the priest and deacon leave the altar to the western part of the church; in the choir the stichera of the holiday are sung, and after them the deacon prays for the Sovereign Emperor, the Sovereign Empress and for the entire Reigning House, for the diocesan bishop and all Orthodox Christians, that the Lord will preserve us all from troubles and misfortunes. The litia is celebrated on the western side of the temple in order to announce the holiday to the penitents and catechumens, who usually stand in the vestibule, about the holiday and to pray with them for them. Here is the basis for praying during the Litiya for every Christian soul that is in sorrow and grief, in need of God’s mercy and help. Litia also reminds us of the ancient religious processions that the leading Christians performed during public disasters at night for fear of being persecuted by the pagans.

During the lithium, after the stichera sung in the poem, after the dying song of Simeon the God-Receiver, and when the troparion of the holiday is sung three times, the blessing of the loaves is performed. In the first times of Christianity, when the all-night vigil continued until dawn, to strengthen the strength of those praying, the priest blessed bread, wine and oil and distributed them to those present. As a reminder of this time and for the sanctification of the faithful, and at the present time the priest prays over the 5 loaves, wheat, wine and oil and asks God to multiply them and for the Lord to sanctify the faithful who partake of these loaves and wine. Oil (oil), consecrated at this time, is used to anoint those praying during the all-night vigil, and wheat is used for food. The five loaves consecrated on this occasion are reminiscent of the miracle that the Lord performed during His life on earth, when He fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves.

The first part of the all-night vigil ends with the words of the priest: the blessing of the Lord be upon you, through grace and love for mankind always, now and ever and unto ages of ages, amen.

At this time there is a ringing sound, reminiscent of the end of Vespers and the beginning of the second part of the All-Night Vigil.

Second part of the all-night vigil

The second part of the All-Night Vigil is Matins, following Vespers. It begins with a joyful song of angels on the occasion of the Nativity of Christ: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Behind it is read the Six Psalm, which contains six psalms of King David, in which this pious king prays to God to cleanse people from the sins with which we offend God every minute, despite His constant providence for us. During the reading of the Six Psalms, the priest, first in the altar and then on the pulpit, prays to God to send God’s mercy to people. The priest's humble exit from the altar to the pulpit indicates the quiet, solitary life of the Lord Jesus in Nazareth, from which He only occasionally came to Jerusalem to pray during the holidays. The Six Psalms ends with an exclamation in honor of the Triune God: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God!

After the great litany, pronounced at the sixth psalm, a verse from the psalms of King David is sung four times: God is the Lord and He who appears to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, indicating the appearance of the Savior to people as a Teacher and Wonderworker.

Then the troparion of the holiday is sung and two kathismas are read.

Kathismas are sections of the psalms of the king and the prophet David, which are the sections in Psalm 20. These sections of psalms are called kathismas because while reading them, those praying in the church are allowed to sit. The word kathisma from Greek means seat. Each day a different kathisma is read, so that over the course of a week the entire psalter is read.

Polyeleos

After each kathisma, a small litany is pronounced by the clergyman. Then begins the most solemn part of the all-night vigil, called polyeleos, which means from Greek much mercy, or much oil. The royal doors open, large candles in front of St. The icons, extinguished during the reading of the sixth psalm and kathisma, are rekindled, and on the choir a song of praise to God from Psalms 134 and 135 is sung: Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servants of the Lord, hallelujah! Blessed be the Lord from Zion (where in ancient times there was a tabernacle and temple) living in Jerusalem, hallelujah! Confess to the Lord (confess your sins), for He is good (because He is good), for His mercy endures forever, hallelujah! Confess to the God of heaven that He is good, that His mercy endures forever, hallelujah! The priest and the deacon perform censing throughout the church. The opened royal gates signify to us that an angel has rolled away the stone from the Holy Sepulcher, from where a new eternal life has shone for us, full of spiritual joy and joy. The clergy walking around the church with a censer reminds us of St. the myrrh-bearers who went to the tomb of the Lord on the night of the resurrection of Christ to anoint the body of the Lord, but received joyful news from an angel about the resurrection of Christ.

On Sundays, after singing the laudatory verses of Psalms 134 and 135, in order to better impress upon those praying the thought of the resurrection of Christ, troparia are sung, in which the reason for our joy about the resurrection of Christ is expressed. Each troparion begins with words glorifying the Lord: blessed art thou, Lord, teach me by Thy justification (i.e., Thy Commandments). The Sunday polyeleos ends with the reading of St. Gospel about one of the appearances of the risen Savior. The Holy Gospel is carried into the middle of the church, and the believers kiss the Holy Gospel. the Gospel, having (at the same time) in mind all the benefits of the risen Lord. At this time, the choir sings a song of invitation to worship the resurrection of Christ:

Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship Your Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Your holy resurrection: for You are our God; Do we know (except) You otherwise; we call Your name. Come, all the faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Behold, for joy has come to the whole world through the cross, always blessing the Lord, we sing His resurrection: having endured crucifixion, destroy death by death

The polyeleos on the twelfth feasts and feast days of the holy saints of God differs from the Sunday polyeleos in that after the laudatory verses of Psalms 134 and 135, the clergy go to the middle of the temple, where the icon of the holiday is placed on a lectern, and a magnification is sung, with verses in honor of St. the myrrh-bearing women are not sung. The Gospel is read, having application to the day of the holiday; worshipers in the temple kiss St. the icon on the analogue and are anointed with the oil consecrated during the litia, but not St. peace, as some in ignorance call this oil.

After reading the Gospel and a prayer to the Lord God for mercy on us sinners, usually read by a deacon before the icon of the Savior, a canon or rule is sung to glorify God and the saints and to ask for God’s mercy through the prayers of God’s holy saints. The canon consists of 9 sacred songs, modeled after those Old Testament songs that were sung by righteous people, starting with the prophet Moses and ending with the parent of the Baptist John, the priest Zechariah. In each song, irmos is sung first (in Russian - connection), and at the end katavasiya (in Russian - convergence). The name of the song katavasiya was adopted because, according to the rules, both choirs must come together to sing it. The content of irmos and katavasia is taken from those songs on the model of which the entire canon is compiled.

1. The song is modeled after the song that the prophet Moses sang after the miraculous passage of the Jewish people through the Red Sea.

2. The song is modeled after the song that the prophet Moses sang before his death. With this song the prophet wanted to incite the Jewish people to repentance; as a song of repentance, according to the rules of the Orthodox Church, it is sung only during Great Lent. At other times, after the first song in the canon, the third song immediately follows.

3. The song is modeled after the song sung by the righteous Anna upon the birth of her son Samuel, a prophet and wise judge of the Jewish people.

4. The song is modeled after the song of the prophet Habakkuk.

5. The song of the canon contains thoughts taken from the song of the prophet Isaiah.

6. The song is reminiscent of the song of the prophet Jonah, which he sang when he was miraculously delivered from the belly of the whale.

The 7th and 8th songs are modeled after the song sung by the three Jewish youths after their miraculous deliverance from the kindled Babylonian furnace.

After the 8th hymn of the canon, the hymn to the Mother of God is sung, divided into several verses, after which the hymn is chanted: Most honorable cherub and most glorious without comparison seraphim, without corruption (illness) of God the Word, the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee.

9. The song contains thoughts taken from the song of the priest Zechariah, which he sang after the birth of his son, the Forerunner of the Lord John.

In ancient times, Matins ended with the onset of day, and after the singing of the canon and the reading of Psalms 148, 149 and 150, in which St. King David enthusiastically invites all nature to glorify the Lord, the priest thanks God for the light that has appeared. Glory to You, who showed us the light, says the priest, turning to the throne of God. The choir sings a great praise to the Lord, beginning and ending with the song of St. angels.

Matins, the second part of the all-night vigil, ends with a deep and petitionary litany and dismissal, usually pronounced by the priest from the open royal doors.

Then the first hour is read - the third part of the all-night vigil; it ends with a song of thanksgiving in honor of the Mother of God, composed by the inhabitants of Constantinople for their deliverance through the intercession of the Mother of God from the Persians and Avars who attacked Greece in the seventh century.

To the chosen victorious Voivode, for having been delivered from the evil ones, let us sing thanksgiving to Thy servants, the Mother of God. But as you have an invincible power, free us from all troubles, let us call You: Rejoice, unbrided Bride

To You, who prevails in battle (or war), we, Your servants, the Mother of God, offer songs of victory (solemnity), and as those delivered by You from evil, songs of gratitude. And you, as having invincible power, deliver us from all troubles, so that we cry to you: Rejoice, Bride, who has no groom among men.

Or all-night vigil, is a service that is performed in the evening on the eve of especially revered holidays.

It consists of combining Vespers with Matins and the first hour, and both Vespers and Matins are celebrated more solemnly and with greater illumination of the temple than on other days.

This service is called all-night vigil because in ancient times it began late in the evening and continued all night long before dawn.

Then, out of condescension for the infirmities of the believers, they began to begin this service a little earlier and make cuts in reading and singing, and therefore it now ends not so late. The former name of its all-night vigil has been preserved.

Vespers

Vespers in its composition recalls and depicts the times of the Old Testament: the creation of the world, the fall of the first people, their expulsion from paradise, their repentance and prayer for salvation, then, people’s hope, according to God’s promise, in the Savior and, finally, the fulfillment of this promise.

Vespers, during the all-night vigil, begins with the opening of the royal doors. The priest and deacon silently incense the altar and the entire altar, and clouds of incense smoke fill the depths of the altar. This silent censing marks the beginning of the creation of the world. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". The earth was formless and empty. And the Spirit of God hovered over the primeval matter of the earth, breathing life-giving power into it. But the creative word of God had not yet been heard.

But now, the priest, standing before the throne, with the first exclamation glorifies the Creator and Creator of the world - the Most Holy Trinity: “Glory to the Holy and Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.” Then he calls on the believers three times: “Come, let us worship our King God. Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ, our King God. Come, let us bow and fall down to Christ Himself, the King and our God. Come, let us worship and fall down before Him.” For “all things came into being through Him (that is, to exist, to live), and without Him nothing came into being that was made” (John 1:3).

In response to this call, the choir solemnly sings the 103rd Psalm about the creation of the world, glorifying the wisdom of God: “Bless my soul the Lord! Blessed are you, Lord! Lord, my God, you have greatly exalted yourself (i.e., greatly) ... you have created all things with wisdom. Wonderful are Your works, O Lord! Glory to You, Lord, who created everything!

During this singing, the priest leaves the altar, walks among the people and censes the entire church and those praying, and the deacon precedes him with a candle in his hand.

This sacred rite reminds those praying not only of the creation of the world, but also of the initial, blissful, paradise life of the first people, when God Himself walked among people in paradise. The open royal doors signify that the doors of heaven were then open to all people.

But people, seduced by the devil, violated the will of God and sinned. to his the fall from grace people lost their blissful heavenly life. They were expelled from paradise - and the doors of heaven were closed to them. As a sign of this, after censing is performed in the temple and at the end of the singing of the psalm, the royal doors are closed.

The deacon leaves the altar and stands in front of the closed royal doors, like Adam once before the closed gates of heaven, and proclaims great litany:

After the great litany and the exclamation of the priest, selected verses from the first three psalms are sung:

Then the deacon exclaims small litany: “Packs and packs(more and more) Let us pray to the Lord in peace...

After the small litany, the choir cries out in verses from psalms:

While singing these verses, the deacon censes the church.

This moment of worship, starting from the closing of the royal doors, in the petitions of the great litany and in the singing of psalms, depicts the plight that the human race was subjected to after the fall of the first parents, when along with sinfulness all kinds of needs, illnesses and suffering appeared. We cry to God: “Lord, have mercy!” We ask for peace and salvation of our souls. We lament that we listened to the wicked advice of the devil. We ask God for forgiveness of sins and deliverance from troubles, and we place all our hope in the mercy of God. The deacon's censing at this time signifies those sacrifices that were offered in the Old Testament, as well as our prayers offered to God.

They join in singing the Old Testament verses: “The Lord cried:” stichera, i.e. New Testament hymns, in honor of the holiday.

The last stichera is called theotokos or dogmatist, since this stichera is sung in honor of the Mother of God and it sets out the dogma (the main teaching of the faith) about the incarnation of the Son of God from the Virgin Mary. On the twelfth holidays, instead of the Mother of God dogmatics, a special stichera is sung in honor of the holiday.

When singing the Mother of God (dogmatics), the royal doors open and evening entrance: a candle bearer comes out of the altar through the northern doors, followed by a deacon with a censer, and then a priest. The priest stands on the pulpit facing the royal doors, blesses the entrance in a cross shape, and, after the deacon pronounces the words: “wisdom forgive me!”(means: listen to the wisdom of the Lord, stand straight, stay awake), he enters, together with the deacon, through the royal doors into the altar and stands in the high place.

Evening entrance

At this time, the choir sings a song to the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ: “Quiet light, holy glory of the Immortal Father, Heavenly, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ! Having come to the west of the sun, having seen the evening light, we sing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, God. You are worthy at all times to be a holy voice. Son of God, give life, so the world glorifies You. (The quiet light of the holy glory, the Immortal Father in heaven, Jesus Christ! Having reached the sunset of the sun, having seen the evening light, we glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. You, the Son of God, the giver of life, are worthy to be sung at all times by the voices of the saints. Therefore the world glorifies You).

In this song-hymn, the Son of God is called a quiet light from the Heavenly Father, for He came to earth not in full Divine glory, but as a quiet light of this glory. This hymn says that only through the voices of the saints (and not our sinful lips) can a song worthy of Him be offered to Him and due glorification be performed.

The evening entrance reminds believers of how the Old Testament righteous, according to the promises of God, types and prophecies, expected the coming of the Savior of the world and how He appeared in the world for the salvation of the human race.

The censer with incense at the evening entrance means that our prayers, at the intercession of the Lord Savior, ascend like incense to God, and also signifies the presence of the Holy Spirit in the temple.

The cruciform blessing of the entrance means that through the cross of the Lord the doors of heaven are again opened to us.

After the song: “Quiet Light...” is sung prokeimenon, i.e. a short verse from the Holy Scriptures. At Sunday Vespers it is sung: “The Lord reigned, having clothed himself with beauty”, and on other days other verses are sung.

At the end of the singing of the prokeimna, on major holidays they read proverbs. Proverbs are selected passages of Holy Scripture that contain prophecies or indicate prototypes related to celebrated events, or teach instructions that seem to come from the person of those holy saints whose memory we commemorate.

After the prokemna and paremia, the deacon pronounces strictly(i.e. reinforced) litany: “Let’s say, let’s say, let’s talk, start praying) with all our hearts and with all our thoughts, with all our hearts...”

Then the prayer is read: “Grant, Lord, that this evening we may be preserved without sin...”

After this prayer, the deacon pronounces a petitionary litany: “Let us fulfill (let us bring to fullness, offer in its entirety) our evening prayer to the Lord (Lord)…”

On major holidays, after a special and petitionary litany, lithium And blessing of the loaves.

Lithium, a Greek word, means general prayer. Litiya is performed in the western part of the temple, near the western entrance doors. This prayer in the ancient church was performed in the narthex, with the purpose of giving the catechumens and penitents standing here the opportunity to take part in the general prayer on the occasion of the great holiday.

Lithium

Following lithium happens blessing and consecration of the five loaves, wheat, wine and oil, also in memory of the ancient custom of distributing food to worshipers, who sometimes came from afar, so that they could refresh themselves during a long service. The five loaves are blessed in remembrance of the Savior's feeding of the five thousand with five loaves. Sanctified oil(with olive oil) the priest then, during Matins, after kissing the festive icon, anoints the worshipers.

After the litia, and if it is not performed, then after the litany of petition, “stichera on verse” are sung. This is the name given to special poems written in memory of a remembered event.

Vespers ends with the reading of the prayer of St. Simeon the God-Receiver: “Now you are releasing Your servant, O Master, according to Your word in peace: for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people, light for the revelation of tongues, and the glory of Your people Israel,” then reading the Trisagion and the Lord’s Prayer : “Our Father...”, singing the Angelic greeting to the Theotokos: “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice...” or the troparion of the holiday and, finally, singing the prayer of righteous Job three times: “Blessed be the name of the Lord from now on and forever,” the final blessing of the priest: “Blessing The Lord’s grace and love for mankind be upon you always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.”

The end of Vespers is the prayer of St. Simeon the God-Receiver and the Angelic greeting to the Theotokos (Theotokos, Virgin, Rejoice) - indicate the fulfillment of God’s promise about the Savior.

Immediately after the end of Vespers, at the All-Night Vigil, the Matins by reading six psalms.

Matins

The second part of the all-night vigil - Matins reminds us of New Testament times: the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world for our salvation, and His glorious Resurrection.

The beginning of Matins directly points us to the Nativity of Christ. It begins with a doxology of the angels who appeared to the Bethlehem shepherds: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Then it reads six psalms, that is, six selected psalms of King David (3, 37, 62, 87, 102 and 142), which depict the sinful state of people, full of troubles and misfortunes, and fervently express the only hope people expect for God’s mercy. Worshipers listen to the Six Psalms with special concentrated reverence.

After the Six Psalms, the deacon says great litany.

Then a short song with verses about the appearance of Jesus Christ in the world to people is sung loudly and joyfully: “God is the Lord and has appeared to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” i.e. God is Lord, and has appeared to us, and is worthy of glorification, going to the glory of the Lord.

After this it is sung troparion, i.e. a song in honor of a holiday or celebrated saint, and are read kathismas, i.e. separate parts of the Psalter, consisting of several consecutive psalms. The reading of kathismas, as well as the reading of the Six Psalms, calls us to think about our disastrous sinful state and place all hope in the mercy and help of God. Kathisma means sitting, since one can sit while reading kathisma.

At the end of the kathismas, the deacon says small litany, and then it is done polyeleos. Polyeleos is a Greek word and means “much mercy” or “much illumination.”

Polyeleos

The polyeleos is the most solemn part of the all-night vigil and expresses the glorification of God’s mercy shown to us in the coming of the Son of God to earth and His accomplishment of the work of our salvation from the power of the devil and death.

Polyeleos begins with the solemn singing of verses of praise:

Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servants of the Lord. Hallelujah!

Blessed be the Lord of Zion, who dwelleth in Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

Confess to the Lord that He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Hallelujah!

that is, glorify the Lord, because He is good, because His mercy (towards people) endures forever.

When these verses are chanted, all the lamps in the temple are lit, the royal doors are opened, and the priest, preceded by a deacon with a candle, leaves the altar and burns incense throughout the entire temple, as a sign of reverence for God and His saints.

After singing these verses, special Sunday troparia are sung on Sundays; that is, joyful songs in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, which tell how angels appeared to the myrrh-bearers who came to the tomb of the Savior and announced to them about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On other great holidays, instead of Sunday troparions, it is sung before the icon of the holiday grandeur, i.e. a short verse of praise in honor of a holiday or saint.

(We magnify you, Father Nicholas, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us, Christ our God)

After the Sunday troparions, or after the magnification, the deacon recites the small litany, then the prokeimenon, and the priest reads the Gospel.

At the Sunday service, the Gospel is read about the Resurrection of Christ and about the appearances of the risen Christ to His disciples, and on other holidays the Gospel is read, relating to the celebrated event or to the glorification of the saint.

After reading the Gospel, in the Sunday service a solemn hymn is sung in honor of the risen Lord:

“Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship Your Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Your holy resurrection: for You are our God; Do we know (except) You otherwise; we call Your name. Come, all the faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Behold, for joy has come to the whole world through the cross, always blessing the Lord, we sing His resurrection: having endured crucifixion, destroy death by death.”

The Gospel is brought to the middle of the temple, and the believers venerate it. On other holidays, believers venerate the holiday icon. The priest anoints them with blessed oil and distributes consecrated bread.

After singing: “The Resurrection of Christ: a few more short prayers are sung. Then the deacon reads the prayer: “Save, O God, Thy people”... and after the priest’s exclamation: “By mercy and bounty”... the canon begins to be sung.

Canon At Matins, a meeting of songs composed according to a certain rule is called. “Canon” is a Greek word that means “rule.”

Reading the canon

The canon is divided into nine parts (songs). The first verse of each song that is sung is called irmos, which means connection. These irmos seem to bind the entire composition of the canon into one whole. The remaining verses of each part (song) are mostly read and called troparia. The second hymn of the canon, as a penitential hymn, is performed only during Lent.

Particular efforts were made in composing these songs: St. John of Damascus, Cosmas of Mayum, Andrew of Crete (the great canon of repentance) and many others. At the same time, they were invariably guided by certain chants and prayers of sacred persons, namely: the prophet Moses (for 1 and 2 irmos), the prophetess Anna, the mother of Samuel (for the 3rd irmos), the prophet Habakkuk (for 4 irmos), the prophet Isaiah (for 5 Irmos), the prophet Jonah (for the 6th Irmos), the three youths (for the 7th and 8th Irmos) and the priest Zechariah, father of John the Baptist (for the 9th Irmos).

Before the ninth Irmos, the deacon exclaims: “Let us exalt the Mother of God and the Mother of Light in song!” and burns incense at the temple.

At this time, the choir sings the song of the Virgin Mary:

“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior... Each verse is joined by the refrain: “The most honorable cherub and the most glorious without comparison seraphim, who without corruption gave birth to God the Word, the real Mother of God, we magnify Thee.”

At the end of the song of the Mother of God, the choir continues singing the canon (9th song).

The following can be said about the general content of the canon. Irmoses remind believers of Old Testament times and events from the history of our salvation and gradually bring our thoughts closer to the event of the Nativity of Christ. The troparia of the canon are dedicated to New Testament events and represent a series of poems or chants in honor of the Lord and the Mother of God, as well as in honor of the event being celebrated, or the saint glorified on this day.

After the canon, psalms of praise are sung - stichera on praisetech- in which all God’s creatures are called to glorify the Lord: “Let every breath praise the Lord...”

After the singing of psalms of praise there follows a great doxology. The royal doors open during the singing of the last stichera (on the Resurrection of the Theotokos) and the priest proclaims: “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light!” (In ancient times, this exclamation preceded the appearance of the solar dawn).

The choir sings a great doxology, which begins with the words:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we bow down, we praise Thee, we thank Thee, great for the sake of Thy glory...”

In the “great doxology” we thank God for the light of day and for the gift of spiritual Light, that is, Christ the Savior, who enlightened people with His teaching - the light of truth.

The “Great Doxology” ends with the singing of the Trisagion: “Holy God...” and the troparion of the holiday.

After this, the deacon recites two litanies in a row: strictly And pleading.

Matins at the All-Night Vigil ends release- the priest, turning to those praying, says: “Christ our true God (and in Sunday service: Risen from the dead, Christ our true God...), through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother, the glorious Apostle saints... and all the saints, will have mercy and save us, for good and a lover of humanity.”

In conclusion, the choir sings a prayer that the Lord will preserve for many years the Orthodox Bishopric, the ruling bishop and all Orthodox Christians.

Immediately after this, the last part of the all-night vigil begins - first hour.

The service of the first hour consists of reading psalms and prayers, in which we ask God to “hear our voice in the morning” and correct the works of our hands throughout the day. The service of the 1st hour ends with a victorious song in honor of the Mother of God:

“To the chosen victorious Voivode, for having been delivered from the evil ones, let us sing thanksgiving to Thy servants, the Mother of God. But as you have an invincible power, free us from all troubles, let us call You: Rejoice, unbrided Bride.”

In this song we call the Mother of God “the victorious leader against evil.” Then the priest pronounces the dismissal of the 1st hour. This ends the all-night vigil.

“The Law of God”, Rev. Seraphim Slobodsky

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As Anton Pavlovich Chekhov said through the mouth of Masha in the play “Three Sisters,” a person must be a believer or seek faith, otherwise everything is empty and makes no sense. If thirty years ago for many the word “faith” was associated with “opium for the people,” now there are practically no people who have not encountered Christianity in one way or another, who have not gone to church and have not heard such words as liturgy, all-night vigil vigil, communion, confession, and so on.

This article will examine the concept of all-night vigil, or all-night vigil. This is a combination of three services: Vespers, Matins and the first hour. This service lasts on the eve of Sunday or before a church holiday.

Ancient Christians

The tradition of holding all-night vigils was introduced by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who loved to dedicate the hours. He was followed by the apostles and then by Christian communities. It became especially important to gather at night and pray in the catacombs during the years of persecution of Christians. Saint Basil the Great called all-night services “agripnias,” that is, sleepless ones, and they spread throughout the East. These agripnias were then performed all year round before Sunday, on the eve of Easter, on the feast of Epiphany (Epiphany) and on the days of honoring the holy martyrs.

Then the All-Night Vigil was a special service, on the creation of which great prayer books worked, such as St. John Chrysostom, St. John of Damascus, and Savva the Sanctified. The sequence of Vespers, Matins and the first hour has been almost completely preserved to this day.

The concept of the All-night service

Clergymen are often asked the question: “Is it obligatory to go to all-night vigils?” Believers feel that this service is more difficult to endure than the liturgy. And this happens because the All-Night Vigil is a person’s gift to God. At it, everyone present sacrifices something: their time, some life circumstances, and the liturgy is God’s sacrifice to us, so it is easier to endure, but often the degree of acceptance of the Divine sacrifice depends on how much a person is ready to give, sacrifice something God.

The Russian Orthodox Church has preserved in its entirety the very complex, beautiful, spiritual all-night vigil. The liturgy, celebrated on Sunday morning, completes the weekly cycle. In Russian churches, the evening service is combined with the morning one, and all this happens in the evening. This was introduced by the church fathers, and this rule allows us to remain faithful to the apostolic tradition.

How they serve outside Russia

For example, in Greece there is no all-night vigil, there is no vespers; matins begins in the morning and, together with the liturgy, takes only two hours. This happens because modern people are less prepared physically and spiritually for service. Many do not understand what is read and sung in the choir; Unlike their ancestors, contemporaries know little about the Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God.

In a word, everyone decides for himself whether he will go to the all-night service or not. There are no strict rules; clergy do not impose “unbearable burdens” on people, that is, what is beyond their strength.

Sometimes events in the life of a believer do not allow him to attend the all-night vigil (urgent work, a jealous husband (wife), illness, children, etc.), but if the reason for absence is not valid, then such a person better think carefully before proceeding to accept Christ’s Tain.

Follow-up of the All-Night Vigil

The temple is a place of prayer for Christians. In it, the ministers pronounce various types of prayers: both petitionary and repentant, but the number of thanksgiving ones exceeds the rest. The Greek word for thanksgiving is Eucharist. This is what Orthodox Christians call the most important sacrament present in their lives - this is the sacrament of communion, which is performed at the liturgy, and before that everyone must prepare for communion. You need to fast (fast) for at least three days, think about your own life, correct it by confessing to the priest, read the prescribed prayers, eat or drink nothing from midnight until communion. And all this is just the minimum of what a believer should do. In addition, it is advisable to go to the all-night vigil service, which begins with the striking of the bells.

In an Orthodox church, the central place is occupied by the iconostasis - a wall decorated with icons. In its center there are double doors, also with icons, otherwise called the Royal or Great Gates. During the evening service (at first), they are opened, and an altar with a seven-branched candlestick on the throne (the table on which the most sacred and mysterious actions are performed) appears before the believers.

Beginning of the evening service

The all-night service begins with Psalm 103, which remembers the six days created by God. While the singers sing, the priest censes the entire temple, and the solemn chant, the calm, majestic movements of the clergy - all this recalls the comfortable life of Adam and Eve in paradise before their fall. Then the priest enters the altar, closes the doors, the choir falls silent, the lamps go out, the chandelier (chandelier in the center of the temple) - and here one cannot help but remember the fall of the first people and the fall of each of us.

Since ancient times, people have longed to pray at night, especially in the East. The summer heat and the exhausting heat of the day did not encourage prayer. Another thing is the night, during which it is pleasant to turn to the Almighty: no one interferes, and there is no blinding sun.

Only with the arrival of Christians did the all-night service become a form of public service. The Romans divided the night time into four watches, that is, into four shifts of military guard. The third watch began at midnight, and the fourth at rooster crow. Christians prayed all four watches only on special occasions, for example, before Easter, but usually they prayed until midnight.

All-night hymn

An all-night vigil without psalms is unthinkable; they permeate the entire service. The singers read or sing psalms in whole or in fragments. In a word, the psalms are the skeleton of the all-night vigil; without them it would not exist.

The hymns are interrupted by litanies, that is, petitions, when the deacon, standing in front of the altar, asks God for forgiveness of our sins, for peace in the whole world, for the unification of all Christians, for all Orthodox Christians, for travelers, the sick, for deliverance from sorrow, troubles and etc. In conclusion, the Mother of God and all the saints are remembered, and the deacon asks that we all “devour our whole belly,” our lives, to Christ God.

During Vespers, many prayers and psalms are sung, but at the end of each stichera a dogmatism is always sung, which tells that the Mother of God was a Virgin both before the birth of Christ and then. And Her birth is joy and salvation for the whole world.

Does God need an all-night vigil?

The All-Night Vigil is a service during which blessings to God are often pronounced. Why do we say these words, because God does not need either our kind words or our songs? And indeed, the Lord has everything, all the fullness of life, but we need these kind words.

There is one comparison that was made by a Christian writer. A beautiful painting does not need praise, it is already beautiful. And if a person does not notice it, does not pay tribute to the artist’s skill, then he is thereby robbing himself. The same thing happens when we don’t notice God, we don’t give thanks for our lives, for the created world around us. This is how we rob ourselves.

Remembering the Creator, a person becomes kinder, more humane, and forgetting about Him, he becomes more like a humanoid animal, living by instincts and the struggle for survival.

During the evening service, one prayer is always read, personifying the Gospel event. These are “Now you let go...” - the words spoken by Simeon the God-Receiver, who met the baby Jesus in the temple and told the Mother of God about the meaning and mission of her Son. Thus, the all-night vigil (“meeting”, meeting) glorifies the meeting of the Old Testament and New Testament worlds.

Six Psalms

After this, the candles (lamp) in the temple are extinguished, and the reading of the Six Psalms begins. The temple plunges into darkness, and this is also symbolic, as it recalls the darkness in which the Old Testament people lived who did not know the Savior. And on this night the Lord came, as once on Christmas night, and the angels began to praise Him by singing “Glory to God in the highest.”

This period during the service is so important that, according to the Church Charter, during the Six Psalms they do not even bow or make the sign of the cross.

Then the Great Litany (petition) is pronounced again, and then the choir sings “God is the Lord and appeared to us...”. These words recall how the Lord, at the age of thirty, entered His Service, for the sake of which He came into this world.

Hallelujah

After some time, the candles are lit and the polyeleos begins, with the choir singing “Hallelujah.” The priest goes to the middle of the temple and, together with the deacon, censes the temple with fragrant incense. Excerpts from the psalms are then sung, but the climax of the all-night vigil is the reading of the Gospel by the priest.

The Gospel is taken out of the altar, as if from the Holy Sepulcher, and placed in the middle of the temple. The words spoken by the priest are the words of the Lord himself, therefore, after reading, the deacon holds the Holy Book, like an Angel proclaiming the news of Christ, the Savior of the world. The parishioners bow to the Gospel, like disciples, and kiss it, like the myrrh-bearing women, and the choir (ideally the whole people) sings “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ...”.

After this, the 50th repentant psalm is read, and the clergy anoint the forehead of each person with consecrated oil (oil) in a cross shape. This is followed by reading and singing of the canon.

The attitude of contemporaries to the church

Modern people have begun to treat the church as something good, useful, but which has already had its say. They don’t see anything new in it; they often ask idle questions. Why go to church so often? How long does the all-night vigil last? Church life is incomprehensible to those who rarely go to church. And it’s not a matter of where the service is conducted. The church's position itself is unacceptable to many people.

The Russian Orthodox Church reminds the world of the meaning of existence, of family, marriage, morality, chastity, of everything that people forget about when they sit comfortably in front of the TV. The church is not clergy or beautiful walls. The Church is a people bearing the name of Christ who gather together to glorify God. This is an important message to a world that lies in lies.

All-night vigil, liturgy, reception of the Holy Mysteries, confession - these are the services that people need, and those who understand this strive for the “ark of the Lord.”

Conclusion

After the canon at the all-night vigil, the stichera on the Praiseworthy are read, and then the Great Doxology. This is the majestic singing of a Christian hymn. It begins with the words “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth Peace...”, and ends with the trisagion: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us,” pronounced three times.

This is followed by litanies, Many Years, and at the end the “First Hour” is read. Many people leave the temple at this time, but in vain. In the prayers of the first hour, we ask God to hear our voice and help us continue the day.

It is desirable that the temple becomes for everyone a place where they want to return. So that you can live the rest of the week in anticipation of a meeting, a meeting with the Lord.