An Introduction to the Great Vespers
In the
Bible we read that in the beginning, God created heaven and earth, and that the
earth was unstructured ("unsightly" or "unfurnished," as
the Holy Bible says), and that the Life-giving Spirit of God moved silently
above it, infusing the earth with living powers.
Great
Vespers, the beginning of the All-night Vigil, takes us back to this dawning of
creation. The service begins with a silent making of the sign of the cross with
the censer before the Holy Table and the censing around the Holy Table in a cross
fashion. This action is one of the most profound and significant moments in all
of Orthodox worship. It is an image of the movement of the Holy Spirit within
the essence of the Holy Trinity. The very silence of this censing gives us an
indication of the Divine eternal rest, which was from before the world existed.
It symbolizes the fact that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who sends the Holy
Spirit from the Father, is the "the Lamb, sacrificed from the creation of
the world." Similarly, the cross, the weapon of His saving sacrifice, also
has an eternal, cosmic, pre-creation significance. In one of his homilies for
Great Friday, the 19th Century Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow emphasized that
"The Cross of Christ . . . is the earthly image and shadow of the heavenly
Cross of Love."
The
Beginning
After the
censing, the priest stands before the Holy Table, while the deacon, having gone
through the Beautiful Gates (Royal Doors) to the ambo, stands facing the West
(that is, toward the faithful), and announces: "Upright!"
("Arise!") Then, turning to the East, he continues "Bless,
Master!"
The
priest makes the sign of the cross with the censer before the Holy Table, and
says "Glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-creating, and indivisible
Trinity, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages."
The
meaning behind these words and actions rests in the fact that the deacon,
concelebrating with the priest, invites those who have gathered here to stand
at prayer, to be attentive, and to "take heart." Then the priest confesses
the Beginning and Creator of all, the consubstantial and life-creating Trinity.
At the same time, in making the sign of the Cross with the censer, the priest
demonstrates that it was through the Cross of Jesus Christ that Christians were
made worthy to comprehend to some extent the mystery of the Holy Trinity in God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
After the
doxology "Glory to the holy . . ." the clergy within the altar
glorify Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the All-holy Trinity, by singing
"O Come let us worship God our King . . . the very Christ, our King and
God."
The
Proemial Psalm
Then the
choir sings verses from the Proemial Psalm, Psalm 103, beginning with the words
"Bless the Lord O my soul," and ending with "In wisdom hast Thou
made them all." This psalm hymns the universe created by God, the visible
and invisible world, and has been an inspiration to poets from among many
different peoples and historical periods. An example is the well known
restating of the psalm in verse by the poet Lomonosov. Its themes also resound
in Derzhavin’s ode entitled God, and in the Prologue to the Heavens by Goethe.
The principal feeling imbuing this psalm is man’s admiration for and
contemplation of the beauty and harmonious arrangement of the world made by
God. God "brought order" to the unformed earth during the six days of
creation. Everything became beautiful (God saw that it was good, Genesis 1:10;
cf.12,18,21,25 [LXX]). The 103rd psalm also expresses the idea that even the
least noticeable thing in nature holds within it the most wondrous of wonders.
Censing
of the Church
The
censing of the entire temple takes place during the singing of this psalm while
the Beautiful Gates are still open. This practice was introduced into the Church
so that the faithful might be reminded of the movement of the Holy Spirit above
God’s creation. The open Beautiful Gates at this point are a symbol of
paradise; that is, of the state in which the first people lived in direct
communion with God. Immediately following the censing of the temple, the
Beautiful Gates are closed, just as Adam’s ancestral sin closed the gates of
paradise to man separating him from God.
All the
rituals and hymns at the beginning of the All-night Vigil reveal to us the
cosmic significance of the Orthodox temple; the temple, which represents a true
image of the structure of the world. The altar and the Holy Table represent
paradise and heaven, over which the Lord reigns. The clergy represent the
angels who serve God. The central part of the temple represents the earth and
man. The clergy descend from the altar and to the faithful in much the same way
paradise was returned to man by the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They
wear shining vestments as a reminder of the Divine Light with which the
garments of Christ shone on Mount Tabor.
The
Lamplighting Prayers
The
Beautiful Gates are shut immediately after the priest censes the church, as a
reminder that with Adam’s ancestral sin, the gates of paradise were shut to
him, and he was estranged from God. Now fallen man, standing before the closed
gates of paradise, prays for a return to the path to God. The priest,
representing the repentant Adam, steps before the closed Beautiful Gates.
Standing there as an image of repentance, with head uncovered, and without the
resplendent phelonion in which he had celebrated the festive beginning of the
service, he silently reads the seven Lamplighting Prayers. These prayers,
composed in the 4th century, make up the most ancient part of Vespers; in them
we hear man’s recognition of his helplessness and his plea for direction on the
path of truth. The prayers are characterized by lofty eloquence and spiritual
depth. The seventh prayer states:
"O
God, great and most high, Who alone hast immortality and dwellest in light
unapproachable; Who hast fashioned all creation in wisdom; Who hast divided
between the light and the darkness, and has appointed the sun for dominion of
the day, the moon and stars for dominion of the night; Who hast counted us
sinners worthy at this present hour also to come before Thy Countenance with
thanksgiving, to offer unto Thee our evening glorification: do Thou Thyself, O
man-befriending Lord, direct our prayer as incense before Thee, and accept it
for a savour of sweet fragrance. Grant us peace in the present evening and the
coming night; array us with the armour of light; deliver us from the terror by
night, and from everything that walketh in darkness; and grant us sleep, which
Thou hast given for the repose of our infirmities, free from all diabolic
imagining — yea, O Master of all, Bestower of good things: so that we, being
moved to compunction upon our beds, may call to remembrance Thy Name in the
night, and being enlightened by the meditation on Thy commandments, we may rise
up in joyfulness of soul to glorify Thy goodness, offering up prayers and
supplications unto Thy loving kindness, for our own sins and for those of all
Thy people, whom do Thou visit in Thy mercy, through the intercessions of holy
Theotokos. . . ."
It is
Church practice that during the reading of these lamplighting prayers, the
candles and lamps within the temple are lit, an action that symbolizes the
hopes, revelations, and prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the coming
Messiah, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
The Great Ektenia
Next, the
deacon chants the Great Ektenia. An ektenia or litany is a series of short
prayerful requests or pleas addressed to the Lord, regarding the worldly and
spiritual needs of the faithful. An ektenia is an especially fervent prayer
read on behalf of all of the faithful. The choir, also acting on behalf of all
of those present at the service, responds to these petitions with the words
"Lord have mercy," a phrase which, while short, is nonetheless one of
the most perfect and complete prayers which can be uttered by man. It says all
that there is to say.
The Great
Ektenia is known for its opening words; "In peace let us pray to the
Lord," is, thus, also known as the Litany of Peace. Peace is an essential
condition for any prayer, whether an individual or a communal church prayer. In
the Holy Gospel according to Mark, Christ speaks of the spirit of peace as the
basis for any prayer: And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought
[anything] against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive
you your trespasses (Mark 11:25). St. Seraphim of Sarov said "Acquire the
spirit of peace, and thousands around you will be saved." This is why at
the beginning of the Vigil, and in most services, the Church invites the
faithful to pray to God with a calm, peaceful conscience, having reconciled
ourselves to our neighbor and to God.
Further
on in the Litany of Peace, the Church prays for peace throughout the world, for
the unification of all Christians, for our native land, for the temple in which
the service is taking place, and in general for all Orthodox churches, and for
them that enter the temple, as the litany says, "with faith, reverence,
and the fear of God," but not for them that enter out of curiosity. We
remember those who travel, the sick, the imprisoned, and we hear a request to
be saved from "all tribulation, wrath, danger, and necessity." In the
closing petition of the Litany of Peace we state: "Calling to remembrance
our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed, glorious Lady, Theotokos and
Ever-virgin Mary with all the Saints, let us commit ourselves and one another
and all our life unto Christ our God." This formula encompasses two
profound and basic Orthodox theological concepts: the dogma of the prayerful
intercession of the Mother of God at the head of all of the Saints, and the
lofty ideal of Christianity; the dedication of ones life to Christ our God.
The Great
Ektenia or Litany of Peace ends with the priest’s doxology, which, just as at
the beginning of the Vigil, glorifies The Holy Trinity; Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
The Psalter
As Adam
stood repentant before the gates of paradise and prayed to God, so, the deacon
stands before the closed Beautiful Gates and begins the Great Ektenia with the
words: "In peace let us pray to the Lord. . . ."
Adam,
however, had just heard God promise that the seed of the woman would bruise the
head of the serpent and that the Savior would come into the world, so Adam’s
heart burned with the hope of salvation.
This hope
is expressed in the All-night Vigil in the hymn which follows. As if in answer
to the Great Ektenia, a biblical psalm is heard: "Blessed is the man. . .
." This Psalm, the first psalm of the Psalter, embodies a direction and
warning to the believer against taking erroneous, sinful paths in life. In
monasteries, and in some churches, not only the first psalm, Blessed is the
Man, but the entire first kathisma of the Psalter is chanted. The Greek word kathisma
means "seat" or "stall," because, according to Church
rules, it is permitted to sit during the readings of the kathismata. The
Psalter, which consists of 150 psalms and is divided into 20 groups of psalms
known as kathismata. Each kathisma in turn is divided into three parts, or
"Glories," for each part ends with the words "Glory to the
Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit." The entire Psalter, all 20
kathismata, are read over the course of the services in a week. During Great
Lent, the 40-day period preceding Pascha, a period during which Church prayer
intensifies, the Psalter is read twice each week.
The
Psalter was incorporated into the liturgical life of the Church in the earliest
days after the Church was established. It occupies a position of great honor
within Church life. St. Basil the Great, writing in the 4th century, stated:
"The
Book of Psalms includes useful material from all of the books. It has
prophesies regarding the future, it calls to mind past events, it sets out the
laws of life, and it offers rules for action. The Psalms bring peace to the
soul and order to the world. The Psalter quenches restless and troubling
thoughts . . . is comfort from daily toils. The Psalm is the voice of the
Church and is perfect theology. . . ."
In his
book In the World of Prayer, Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky writes about the
significance of the Psalter in Orthodox worship:
"Within
the Church, the Psalter is, so to speak, Christianized. Here, many Old
Testament concepts and expressions take on a new, more complete, meaning. For
this reason, the Holy Fathers and spiritual strugglers love so to use the words
of the Psalter, which speaks about defense against our enemies, and expresses
their thoughts on the battle with the enemy of our salvation and with the
passions.
"Thus
it is no surprise that the Psalms take up such a large part of divine worship
services. Each service begins with psalms; some with only one, but most with
three. An enormous number of verses from the Psalter are to be found throughout
all of the liturgical cycles."
After the
first psalm is sung, the Small Litany is chanted: "Again and again in
peace let us pray to the Lord." This ektenia, a shortened form of the
Great Ektenia, contains two petitions:
"Help
us, save us, have mercy upon us, and keep us O God, by Thy grace.
"Lord,
have mercy.
"Calling
to remembrance our all-holy, immaculate, most blessed, glorious Lady Theotokos
and Ever-virgin Mary with all the Saints, let us commit ourselves and one
another and all our life unto Christ our God.
"To
Thee O Lord."
The Small
Litany concludes with the priest’s reading of one of the doxologies appointed
in the order of service.
It is
known from the history related in the Bible that the voices of sorrow and hope,
which had first cried at the gates of paradise after the fall into sin of our
first created parents, continued to sound until the very coming of the Christ.
In the
Vigil, sinful man’s sorrow and repentance is expressed in the verses of the
penitential psalms, which are sung to special melodies and with particular
solemnity.
Lord, I Have Cried and the Censing
After the
singing of Blessed is the Man, and the Small Litany, we hear the verses from
Psalms 140 and 141, psalms beginning with the words "Lord, I have cried
unto Thee, hearken unto me." These psalms, which relate fallen man’s
longing for God and his striving to truly serve God, constitute the most
characteristic, distinguishing feature of any Vesper service. In the second
verse of Psalm 140, we encounter the words "Let my prayer be set forth as
incense before Thee" (a prayerful sigh that is known for its especially
moving musical setting in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts sung during
Great Lent). The censing of the entire church takes place while these verses
are sung.
What does
this censing signify?
The
Church answers through the words of the psalm already mentioned: "Let my
prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as an
evening sacrifice," that is to say, may my prayer ascend unto Thee [God],
like smoke from the censer, and may the raising of my hands be as an evening
sacrifice to Thee. This verse reminds us of that time in the ancient past when,
according to the Law of Moses, in the evening of each day a sacrifice was
offered in the tabernacle (tent of meeting), that is, in the portable temple
used by the people of Israel while they were moving from the bondage of Egypt
to the Promised Land. The sacrifice was marked by the lifting up of the hands
of one bringing the sacrifice, and by the censing of the altar that contained
the Holy Tablets of the Law, which had been received by Moses from God on the
summit of Mt. Sinai.
The
ascent of the smoke from the burning incense symbolizes the prayers of the
faithful, ascending to Heaven. When the deacon or priest censes in the
direction of the faithful, they respond by bowing their heads, as a sign that
they recognize it to be a reminder that the prayer of the believer, like the
smoke of incense, easily rises up to Heaven. Censing the people also reminds us
of the profound truth that the Church sees in each person the image and
likeness of God; a living icon of God, as it were, and sees the betrothal to
Christ received in the mystery of Baptism.
During
the censing of the church, the singing of "Lord I have cried . . ."
continues and our corporate parish prayers join in offering the sentiment of
this psalm, for we are no less sinners than were our first parents. From the
depths of our hearts, we, together with them, cry out the words "Hearken
unto me, O Lord."
The Stichera for Lord, I Have Cried
Among the
following penitential verses of the 140th and 141st psalms is "Bring my
soul out of prison . . ." and, from the 129th Psalm, we hear "Out of
the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord, O Lord, hear my voice." Later,
voices of hope in the promised Savior resound from the chanter.
Hope amid
sorrow is heard in the two hymns that follow Lord, I Have Cried, the so-called
Stichera for Lord, I Have Cried. While the verses preceding the stichera speak
of darkness and sorrow of the Old Testament, the stichera themselves (those
refrains which supplement the verses), speak of the joy and light of the New
Testament.
Stichera,
liturgical songs composed in honor of a feast or a saint, are of three types:
1) Stichera for Lord, I Have Cried which as we have already noted are sung at
the beginning of Vespers; 2) those sung at the close of Vespers between verses
taken from the Psalms, known as Aposticha; and 3) those toward the close of the
second part of the vigil, sung together with psalms wherein the invocation
"Praise ye" is often encountered. These are known as the Stichera for
the Praises.
The
Resurrection stichera glorify the Resurrected Christ and festal stichera tell
of the reflection of His glory in various sacred events or spiritual struggles
of the saints; for ultimately, all of church history is tied to Pascha and to
Christ’s victory over death and hell. By following the sticharion text, one can
recognize who or what event is being commemorated and glorified in the services
of the day.
The Octoechos
Like the
Psalm Lord I Have Cried, the stichera are also a distinguishing feature of the
All-night Vigil. In Vespers, between six and ten stichera are sung in a
specific tone. Since antiquity, there have been eight tones, composed by St.
John of Damascus, who struggled spiritually at the Lavra (monastery) of St.
Sabbas the Sanctified in Palestine during the 8th century. Each tone
encompasses several melodies to which specific prayers in the divine services
are sung. The tones change weekly. The cycle of the so-called Octoechos moves
through the eight tones over the course of eight weeks, and then begins anew.
All of these melodies are contained in the liturgical book known as the
Octoechos or the Book of Eight Tones.
The tones
are one of the most outstanding features of Orthodox liturgical music.
Dogmatika
The
Nativity of the Son of God was the answer to the repentance and hope of the
people of the Old Testament. A special Theotokion sticheron, sung immediately
after the stichera for Lord I have cried, tells us of this. This sticheron is
known as a Dogmatikon or a Theotokion-Dogmatikon. There are eight dogmatika;
one for each tone. The dogmatika are comprised of praises of the Theotokos and
the teachings of the Church about the incarnation of Jesus Christ and about how
His two completely distinct natures; divine and human, dwell in Him.
What sets
the dogmatika apart is their profound catechetical meaning and their sublime
poetry.
Here is
an English rendering of the Dogmatikon in the First Tone:
"Let
us hymn the Virgin Mary, the glory of the whole world, who sprang forth from
men and gave birth unto the Master, the portal of heaven, and the subject of
the hymnody of the incorporeal hosts and adornment of the faithful; for she
hath been shown to be heaven and the temple of the Godhead. Having destroyed
the middle wall of enmity, she hath brought forth peace and opened wide the
kingdom. Therefore, having her as the confirmation of our faith, we have as
champion the Lord born of her. Wherefore, be of good courage! Yea, be ye of
good cheer, O people of God, for He vanquisheth the foe, in that He is
almighty!"
This
Dogmatikon sets forth, in concise form, the Orthodox teachings about the human
nature of the Savior. The principal theme of the Dogmatikon in the first tone
is that the Mother of God was born of common people, and herself a common
person, and not a superhuman. The common people of whom she was born, though
sinful, preserved their spiritual essence to the extent that, in the person of
the Mother of God, they were worthy of taking the Divinity, Jesus Christ, into
their heart. The Holy Fathers of the Church taught that the all-holy Theotokos
is man’s justification before God. In the person of the Mother of God, humanity
was raised to heaven; and God, in the person of Jesus Christ, Who was born of
her, came down to earth. This, considered from the perspective of Orthodox
Mariology (teachings with respect to the Mother of God), is the actual purpose
of Christ’s Incarnation.
The
English translation of the Dogmatikon in the Second Tone declares:
"The
shadow of the law passed away when grace arrived; for, as the bush wrapped in
flame did not burn, so did the Virgin give birth and yet remained a virgin. In
place of the pillar of fire, the Sun of righteousness hath shone forth. Instead
of Moses, Christ is come, the salvation of our souls."
The
meaning of this Dogmatikon lies in the fact that through the Virgin Mary, grace
came into the world and liberated the faithful from the weight of the Old
Testament law, which was a mere shadow and symbol of the future good things of
the New Testament law. The Dogmatikon in the Second Tone also underscores the
ever-virginity of the Theotokos, depicted in the Old Testament symbol of the
burning bush that was not consumed. This burning yet unconsumed bush was the
thorn bush which Moses saw at the base of Mt. Sinai. According to the Bible,
the bush burned but was not consumed, that is, it was engulfed by flame, but
did not burn.
The Little Entrance
The
singing of the Dogmatikon at the Vigil represents the uniting of earth and
heaven. During the singing of the Dogmatikon, the Beautiful Gates are opened to
show that heaven, in the sense of man’s communion with God, which was closed by
Adam’s sin, was opened once more with the coming to earth of Jesus Christ; the
Adam of the New Testament. At this point, the Evening or Little Entrance takes
place. The priest, preceded by a deacon, comes out of the altar through the
North (deacon’s) door, just as the Son of God, preceded by St. John the
Forerunner, appeared to man in the world. The choir concludes the
evening/little entrance by singing the prayer O Gentle Light, portraying in
words what the priest and deacon have portrayed in the action of the entrance;
the gentle, humble Light of Christ, which appeared almost unnoticed in the
world.
O Gentle Light
O Gentle
Light (rendered as O Gladsome Light by some) is known, in the cycle of chants
of the Orthodox Church, as the evening hymn, since it is sung at all the vesper
services. In the words of this hymn the children of the Church "having
come to the setting of the sun, having beheld the evening light, we praise the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit; God." It is apparent from these words that
the chanting of O Gentle Light was intended to coincide with the appearance of
the soft light of sunset, a time when the soul of the believer should be close
to feeling the touch of another kind of light, a light from above. This is why,
in ancient times, Christians, on observing the setting of the sun, poured out
their feelings and turned in prayerful attitude of soul to their Gentle Light,
Jesus Christ, Who is described by the Apostle Paul as the brightness of the
glory of the Father (Hebrews 1:3) and by the Old Testament prophet as the true
Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 3:2[LXX]), and the true light which according to
the Holy Evangelist John appeared in the world to dispel spiritual darkness
(John 1:4,9); a light which is eternal, an unsetting sun.
St.
Cyprian of Carthage, who lived in the 4th century, wrote "Inasmuch as
Christ is the true sun and the true day, when we pray at the setting of the sun
and ask that light to come to us, we are praying for the coming of Christ, who
possesses the grace to offer us eternal light."
The
prayer, O Gentle Light, which appeared in the epoch when the Church of Christ
was in the catacombs, is the third distinguishing feature of the Vespers. O
Gentle Light also contains one of the most important of Orthodox dogmas, the
confession of Christ as the visible face of the All-holy Trinity, a dogma which
is the foundation for the practice of venerating icons.
Let us attend
After the
chanting of O Gentle Light, the clergy serving in the altar make several short
exclamations: "Let us attend," (The Church Slavonic word
вонмем—vonmem [this article is translated from Russian] is an imperative form
of the verb "to heed." It is translated here as "Let us
attend" but could be translated "Let us pay heed.") "Peace
be unto all," and "Wisdom." These exclamations are made not only
during All-night Vigil, but during other services as well. These liturgical
exclamations, though repeated several times in church, can easily pass us by
unnoticed. They are little words, but they their content is great and
significant.
In our
daily life, to be attentive or heedful is important. Yet the capacity to be
attentive or heedful does not always come easily. Our intellect is predisposed
to being forgetful and unfocused. It is difficult to force oneself to be
attentive. The Church is aware of our weakness, and so it takes it upon itself
to remind us with the phrase, "Let us attend!" which tells us: let us
be attentive, let us be heedful, let us take note, let us be careful, let us
gather our wits, and let us strain to focus our mind and our memory on what we
are hearing. Even more importantly; let us so set our hearts that nothing going
on in church will slip by us. To be attentive or take heed means to unburden
ourselves, to free ourselves of memories, empty thoughts, and concerns; or, to
use an expression from our liturgical language, to "put aside all earthly
cares. . . ."
Peace be unto all
The
little exclamation, "Peace be unto all!" is first heard during the
All-night Vigil immediately following the small entrance and the prayer, O
Gentle Light.
Among
ancient peoples, the word peace was a form of greeting. The Romans used the
word pax as a greeting, while devout Jews to this day greet one another with
shalom. This form of greeting was used during the earthly life of the Savior,
as well. The ancient Hebrew word shalom has a variety of meanings and caused
New Testament translators considerable difficulty until they ultimately settled
on the word eirini, Greek for "peace." The word shalom has several
shades of meaning in addition to its direct meaning. For example, it can mean
"to be complete, healthy, and unharmed." Its fundamental meaning is a
dynamic one. It means "to live well," to have wellbeing, to be
healthy, satisfied, and so on, and is to be understood both in the material and
the spiritual sense, and both individually and communally. Figuratively, the
word shalom meant good relations among various individuals, families, and
peoples, between man and wife, and between man and God. For this reason, its
antonym or opposite meaning was not necessarily war, but most likely was
everything that could interrupt or destroy individual wellbeing or good
communal relations. In this broader sense, the word peace, shalom, represented
a special gift given by God to Israel for the sake of His Covenant; His agreement
with them. For this reason, the word was employed in an entirely specific, even
priestly way, as a blessing.
The
Savior used this word in precisely this sense as a greeting. He greeted the
apostles with it, as St. John states in his Gospel: "The first day of the
week [after the Resurrection of Christ] . . . came Jesus and stood in the
midst, and saith unto them [His disciples] and saith unto them: Peace be unto
you (John 20:19). Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my
Father hath sent Me, even so send I you (John 20:21). This was not simply a
kind of formal greeting such as we so often hear in ordinary human discourse.
Here Christ actually sends His disciples out into the world, knowing that they
are to go through the abyss of hatred, persecution, and martyric death.
This is
that peace of which the Apostle Paul spoke in his epistles, the peace not of
this world, that peace which is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit; that
peace which is of Christ; 14For he is our peace (Ephesians 2:14).
This is
why during services the bishops and priests so often bless the people of God
with the sign of the Cross and with the words "Peace be unto you!"
The Prokeimenon
The
Προκειμενον — Prokeimenon follows the greeting of the faithful with the words
of the Savior’s greeting, "Peace be unto you." The Prokeimenon is a
short passage taken from the Holy Writ and is read along with one or more other
stichos — verses that supplement the meaning of the Prokeimenon. The Sunday
Prokeimenon, in the sixth tone, is read during Vespers on Saturday evening; the
eve of the Resurrection. The Resurrection is commemorated every Sunday. The
Russian word for Sunday, Воскресенье — Voskresene, literally means
Resurrection. The Prokeimenon is read first in the altar, then repeated by the
choir.
The Readings
The
Readings or Paremia, which literally means "lessons," consists of a
passage or passages from the Old or the New Testament. The Church has decided
that readings such as these, which contain prophecies or words of praise about
the event or saint being commemorated, should be read on eves of great feasts.
While three readings are usually read, from time to time there are more; such
as, on Great Saturday, the Eve of Pascha, or one of the fifteen other special
days of commemoration.
The Augmented Litany
Christ’s
coming into the world, which is shown to us in the action of the evening small
entrance, shows the closeness of God to man and strengthens their prayerful
communion. This is why immediately after the prokeimenon and the readings, the
Church invites the faithful to intensify their prayerful communion with God
through the Augmented Litany. The several petitions in the Augmented Litany
remind us of the content of the first vesperal litany or ektenia; the Great Ektenia.
However, the Augmented Litany also includes prayers for the reposed. The
Augmented Litany begins with the words "Let us all say with our whole soul
and our whole mind. . . ." The choir responds to each petition for all of
those praying, with a thrice repeated "Lord have mercy."
Vouchsafe, O Lord
The
prayer, Vouchsafe, O Lord, is read after the Augmented Litany. A portion of
this prayer, which was composed in the Syrian Church during the 4th century, is
read in the Great Doxology during Matins.
The Litany of Supplication
The
concluding Litany of Supplication is chanted immediately after the prayer,
Vouchsafe, O Lord. After the first two petitions, the choir responds to the
remaining petitions with Grant this, O Lord, which makes the requests bolder
than does Lord have mercy; the penitential response heard in the earlier
litanies. In the initial litanies of Vespers, the faithful pray for the welfare
of the whole world and the Church; that is, for external welfare. In the Litany
of Supplication, we hear prayers for success in our spiritual life; that is,
for a sinless conclusion to the day; for an angel of peace; for pardon and
remission of our sins; for a Christian and peaceful ending to our life, and,
and for a good defence before the dread judgment seat of Christ.
The Prayer at the Bowing of Heads
After the
Litany of Supplication, the Church calls on the faithful to bow their heads
unto the Lord. At this moment, the priest addresses God with a special secret
or hidden prayer, which he reads silently. It contains the idea that those who
have bowed their heads expect help not from men, but from God, and they ask Him
to guard the faithful from every enemy, external, and internal; from vain
thoughts and from evil imaginings. The Bowing of the Heads is an external sign
that the faithful put themselves under God’s protection.
The Litiya
On great
feasts and on days commemorating highly honored saints, the Bowing of the Heads
is followed by the Litiya or Service of Entreaty. The term Лития — Litiya means
intensified prayer. It begins with the singing of special stichera in honor of
the feast or saint of the day. As the singing of stichera begins, the clergy go
in procession through the north (deacon’s) door of the iconostasis, and out of
the altar. The Beautiful Gates remain shut. A candle is carried at the head of
the procession. When the litiya is celebrated outside of the church building;
for example, during times of civil distress or on days marking liberation from
such distress, the litiya is incorporated in a Moleben and Procession of the
Cross. Also a Memorial litiya may be done in the narthex after Vespers or
Matins.
Michael
Skaballanovich, a pre-Revolutionary liturgist, writes that "in the litiya,
the Church steps out of its blessed milieu and, with the goal of mission to the
world, into the external world or narthex; that part of the church which abuts
this world, the part which is open to all, including those not yet part of the
Church or are excluded from Her. From this stems the universal character of the
litiya prayers, embracing all people."
During
the litiya, the deacon reads the prayer, Save, O God, Thy people, as well as,
four other short petitions. These are comprised of entreaties for the salvation
of the people, the Church and civil authorities, for the souls of Christians,
for the cities, for this land and all believers living herein, for the reposed,
as well as, entreaties asking that we be preserved from foreign invasions and
from civil war. Each of these five petitions, chanted by the deacon, ends with
repeated chanting of Lord have mercy.
During
the litiya, the faithful display a heightened sense of humility. In the litiya,
a host of saints are invoked by name, underscoring one of the basic dogmas of
Orthodoxy; our veneration of, and prayerful communication with, the saints.
The words
Lord have mercy are repeatedly chanted during the litiya; which causes the
heart, mind, and soul of those who pray to be saturated with this petition.
These multiple repetitions are intended to focus our attention on the meaning
of the prayer, something the Church considers especially important for man’s
spiritual growth. Like a musical theme, this oft repeated prayer accompanies us
out of the church and into our daily life.
Lord have
mercy — only three words; yet how profound! First of all, in calling God Lord,
we affirm the fact of His rule over the world, over mankind; and, the most
important, over ourselves, and over those who call Him Lord, which means
"ruler" or "master." For this reason we refer to ourselves
as servants or slaves of God. There is nothing shameful about this title.
Slavery is intrinsically a negative thing, for it robs man of his earliest gift
from God, the gift of freedom. Since it is a gift given by God to man, man’s
serving God is in fact the acquisition of perfect freedom in God. It is good to
treasure, keep, and cultivate the prayer, Lord have mercy.
After the
deacon has read the petitions and the priest has read the prayer, O Master
plenteous in mercy, and during the singing of the Aposticha, which consists of
stichera or verses that glorify the feast or saint of the day; the clergy and
faithful enter the nave or central part of the church. At this time, a table is
placed in the center of the church. On the table are five loaves of bread, as
well as, wheat, wine, and oil. All are then blessed in this token act of the
ancient custom of distributing food to the faithful, some of whom had come from
afar, so that they might gain the strength to participate in the lengthy
worship services. Five loaves are blessed in memory of the Lord’s feeding of
the 5000 who listened to his sermon. Later, during Matins, and after the
faithful have venerated the Festal Icon, the priest anoints them with blessed
oil.
The Prayer of St. Symeon, the God-receiver
The
Prayer of St. Symeon, the God-receiver, Now lettest Thou Thy servant departs in
peace, O Master is read after the Aposticha. St. Symeon uttered these words
when he received the Divine Infant Christ in his arms in the Temple of
Jerusalem on the fortieth day after Our Lord’s Nativity. In this prayer, the
Old Testament elder thanks God for enabling him, before his death, to see
Salvation; that is, to see Christ, Who was given by God for the glory of
Israel, and for the enlightenment of the gentiles and of the entire world. In
English, the prayer says: "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, O
Master, according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which
Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; a light of revelation for
the nations, and the glory of Thy people Israel."
Vespers,
the first part of the All-night Vigil, is now drawing to a close. Having begun
with a commemoration of the opening pages of Old Testament history, the
creation of the world; it ends with the prayer. Now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart, symbolizing the conclusion of the history of Old Testament.
The Trisagion
Immediately
following the prayer of St. Symeon the God-receiver, the Trisagion or
Thrice-Holy prayers are read. They include the prayers Holy God, All Holy
Trinity, and Our Father, and end with the doxology exclaimed by the priest For
Thine is the kingdom. . . .
Following
the Trisagion, the Troparia or Dismissal Hymns are sung. A troparion is a
short, concise hymn honoring the saint being commemorated or about the holy
event being celebrated that day. The distinguishing feature of the troparion is
that it concisely describes either the person being glorified or an associated
event. At the Resurrection Vespers on Saturday evening, the troparion to the
Mother of God O Theotokos and Virgin, rejoice! is sung three times. This
troparion is sung at the conclusion of Resurrection Vespers because of the joy
of Christ’s Resurrection, the focus of Matins that follows, announces the joy
of the Annunciation when the Archangel Gabriel advised the Virgin Mary that she
was to give birth to the Son of God, effectively marking the end of Old
Testament times. The words of this troparion are composed mostly of the words
of greeting spoken by the archangel to the Mother of God.
In the
event that a litiya is part of the All-night Vigil, the priest or deacon moves
around the table, on which the loaves of bread, and the wheat, wine, and oil
are placed; censing them three times as the troparion is being sung three
times. Then the priest reads a prayer which asks God to "bless the bread,
wheat, wine and oil, and multiply them throughout the world and to enlighten
those who eat of them." Before reading this prayer, the priest slightly
elevates one of the loaves, and having punctured its surface with his thumb,
makes the sign of the Cross with it over the remaining loaves. This action is
done in remembrance of Christ’s miraculous feeding of the 5000 with five loaves
of bread.
In the
past, the bread and wine which were blessed were then distributed to the
faithful in order to strengthen them for the service of the All-night service,
which in fact continued for the entire night. In contemporary worship, the
blessed bread is cut into small pieces to be given to the faithful later, as
they are the anointed with oil during Matins; this will be expanded upon later.
The solemn ceremony of the blessing of the loaves dates back to a practice of
the earliest Christian times, and is a remnant of the Agape or Love Feast
observed by those first Christians.
At the
conclusion of the litiya, in recognition of God’s mercy, the choir sings
"Blessed be the Name of the Lord from henceforth and forevermore."
This is also the concluding sticheron of the Divine Liturgy.
The
priest closes Vespers, the first part of the All-night Vigil, blessing the
faithful from the ambo with the ancient blessing in the name of the incarnate
Jesus Christ, with the words, "The blessing of the Lord come upon you, by
His divine grace and love for man, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of
ages."
An excerpt from: https://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/vigil_v_potapov.htm
