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About prayer, brothers, we need to talk a lot and at length, because it truly is a work given to us by God himself, and constitutes the crown of every other. To pray means to be in union with God, to constantly be with Him, to cleave, as David says, to God with your soul, without departing from Him and having a mind relentlessly directed towards Him. “Psalmist,” says the Psalmist, “my soul thirsts for You” (Ps. 62:9); “My soul thirsts for You” (Ps. 41:3); “In the same way that the trees desire the springs of water, so does my soul desire You, O God” (Ps. 41:2); “I will love You, O Lord, my strength” (Ps. 17:2); “I will put my soul into Your hand with You” (Ps. 119:109) For this reason he says: “I will bless the Lord at all times; I will put His praise in my mouth” (Ps. 33:2); The one who prays also enters into communication with the Angels, ascending to them with the power of love and desire. “Praise the Lord from heaven, praise Him in the highest. Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him with all His might” (Ps. 149:1-2), - the psalmist David says this not to encourage them to praise, as if they did not praise, but to praise them for the fact that they have adopted prayer for the love of God as their special and unceasing work, for among the Angels, prayer and praise of God are incessant and continuous. His words are intended to encourage them to do this even more intensely, and he applies this responsibility to himself. This good and angelic psalmist, David, calls the entire universe to the same deed, foreshadowing, in my opinion, the saving Epiphany and the knowledge of the Trinity granted to the pagans through it and its constant glorification. “Praise,” he says, “the Lord, all nations, praise him, all people” (Ps. 116:1). And that the Angels sing a ceaseless song to God, this is taught by Isaiah, who saw the Glory of God and the Angels constantly singing the Trisagion. Likewise, Ezekiel. This is the work of the first ranks, the Seraphim and Cherubim. One of them, in their own way, love and zeal for hymn, are called fiery and flaming - this is the order of the seraphim. Others are called “overflowing”, according to the richness of their knowledge and praise - this is the order of the Cherubim. They are called many-eyed, because of the versatility, subtlety and depth of contemplation, and the silence of praise. Among us there are holy people, warmed and aflame with love for God and zeal and heartfelt prayer, as it is said: “My heart is kindled within me, and a fire will burn in my teaching” (Ps. 39:4); or: “Did not our heart burn within us” (Luke 24:32); and: “Who will separate us from the love of God” (Rom. 8:35); and also: “do not slacken in zeal; be on fire in spirit; Serve the Lord; be comforted by hope; be patient in tribulation, constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:11–12). And among us many have a breadth of knowledge of God and pour out love for God like abundant water, as it is said: “grace is poured out on your lips” (Ps. 44:3); “thou hast enlarged my heart” (Ps. 119:32); Your mercy will be poured out on us. And among us some always turn their eyes to God, as it is said: “I will lift up my eyes to the Lord” (Ps. 24:15); I will foresee the Lord before me” (Ps. 15:8); and: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). There are also those among us who imitate the third rank - the rank of Thrones. Just as God rests on these (the throne is a place of rest and a seat), so on those, since they honor God by remembering Him, by singing, by words and by deeds. And reverence is rest for God, according to whose will they live, as it is said: “Rise up, O Lord, into Thy rest” (Ps. 132:8); “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever” (Ps. 44:7); “Such sacrifices are acceptable to God” (Heb. 13:16). “I will dwell in them,” He says, “and I will walk in them” (2 Cor. 6:16); “We will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23); “Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Cor. 6:15); “Are you so senseless?” (Gal. 3:3) So, to have Christ, to carry Him in your heart and mind, to constantly remember Him, to think about Him and to be inflamed with His desire, like the Seraphim, to contemplate Him always, like the Cherubim, and to have Him resting in the heart, like the Thrones, means to pray. And therefore the work of prayer for the servants of Christ is above all others. All other matters are official and secondary. Hence, to the other Angels who have the names of Divine ministries, David says: “Bless the Lord, all His angels, who are mighty in strength, who do His word, so that you may hear the voice of His words” (Ps. 103:20). For although they are ardent and zealous in fulfilling what God has commanded them, and show true obedience and humility, David, however, says: “Bless” and: “glorify Him always,” not commanding them, but addressing them as those who are constantly performing, with other types of honor and service, and this one, also charging himself and everyone to bless and glorify God. This only applies to God. Serving Him is necessary for our own sake, because we have a need for it - God has no need for anything and, as a Benefactor, is only worthy of singing, which is the work of those who receive good deeds. After the three highest ranks, the rest bear names corresponding to the type of their service. And some are called Powers, because they receive powers from God and their higher ranks, and transfer them to the lower ranks. Others are Authorities, because, like them, they are under the authority of God and the first ranks and themselves rule over the ranks that are under them. Others are called Dominions because God and the first orders rule over them: God rules by nature, the first orders by virtue and superiority of knowledge. And they themselves dominate over their lower ranks. There is also a third, intermediate rank, adjacent to the previous one, because it ascends to God, the creator of Strength, Power and Dominion, and in turn increases love and praise in people. Among them, some are called Principalities, since they are under the command and control of the first single Principality, the most superior Trinity, and they themselves rule over those subordinate to them. Others are Archangels, as the first heralds of Divine destinies and commands and the rulers of those under them. The last of all others are called Angels, as those sent for our salvation and proclaiming Divine desires. All of them are ministering spirits, sent to serve for those who will inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14). Moreover, they have the duty of unceasing prayer. Therefore, when they serve our salvation and appear to us, they appear with chants and prayers, proclaiming to us our Creator - God and commanding us to glorify Him alone. Thus, the Angel who appeared to Moses said to him: “Take off your shoes from your feet in honor of God” (Ex. 3:5). Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel heard the singing Angels. And the shepherds at the birth of Christ saw how “the multitude of the heavenly host appeared with the Angel, glorifying God and crying: Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:13–14). And in the Apocalypse, John also heard others singing: “twenty-four elders” (Rev. 4:10–11; Rev. 19:4), slain for the Lamb, who is Jesus Christ, the living Lamb of God. He also heard the Angel who initiated him into the secrets of revelation, who told him: “See that you don’t do this; I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers... Worship God” (Rev. 19:10). Do you see that everyone gives honor to God and, in matters of service, constantly and most of all lifts up songs to Him? That is why the angelic, seraphic, God-speaking Paul, who ascended even to the third heaven, tells us: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). And this he teaches us, bearing in mind the instructions of the Lord of all: “Watch at all times and pray” (Luke 21:36); “Watch, because you do not know what hour your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42); “Pray that you do not fall into temptation” (Luke 22:46); “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning. And you be like people who wait for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, they may open the door to him immediately” (Luke 12:35–36). It is He who speaks about inner prayer, and guarding the mind, and unceasing prayer. And he adds: “Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, finds doing so” (Luke 12:43). He also notes about gifts for vigils and prayers: “Truly I tell you that he will set him over all his possessions” (Luke 12:44), make him gods, heavenly kings and shining brighter than the sun, and as if he himself will serve them. “He girds himself and makes them sit down, and comes up and begins to serve them” (Luke 12:37), that is, he will give everything that is His to them. Do you see what rewards await those who soberly pray from God? May we also be worthy of them, always watching and praying unceasingly, as we have been taught. 258. On the saving naming and invocation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in truly sacred and god-creating prayer There are quite a lot of prayers. We will talk about each of them separately, as far as our strength allows. But above all prayers is the one given to us in the Gospel by the Savior, which briefly embraces all the Gospel mysteries and power. This is the saving calling of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Many of our holy fathers worked on it: Chrysostom, who taught the doctrine of this Divine prayer in three Words, and Climacus, and Nicephorus the Ascetic, and Saint Diadochos, Bishop of Photikie, and Saint Simeon the New Theologian, and others who expounded the doctrine of it worthy of the Divine Spirit dwelling in them: since the prayer itself is pronounced by the Holy Spirit, as Paul says: “no one can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). Whoever pronounces it is from God, for it is said: “Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:2). 259. About our blessed fathers Patriarch Callistus and Ignatius Especially clearly in our days, this prayer was written about by the Spirit, being themselves from God, God-speaking, God-bearing, Christ-bearing and truly inspired, our holy fathers: Callistus, from God the patriarch of the reigning city of new Rome, and his like-minded and companion Saint Ignatius. In the book they compiled, in a hundred chapters, they presented their spiritual, godly and very sublime reasoning about it, in accordance with the perfect number, setting forth the perfect teaching about it. They grew up from the royal city, but left everything and lived first virginally and alone in submission, and then ascetic and heavenly together and inseparably. They fully preserved the unity in Christ, for which Christ Himself prayed to the Father for all of us, and they appeared, according to Paul, as luminaries in the world, possessing the word of life. Almost more than other saints, they showed this unity in Christ and love, so that one could never notice even a slight difference in the opinions and morals of one and the other, or for a moment of any grief, which is almost inevitable in people. Thus, having become angelic, having preserved and acquired the peace of God, as Christ prayed for this (and our peace, according to Paul, is Jesus Christ, “who made both one” (Eph. 2:14), and this peace surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7)), they reposed peacefully and now enjoy the highest silence. They see Jesus more purely, Whom they loved with their souls and Whom they truly sought; are one with Him and enjoy the sweetest and most Divine light in abundance. From here they took with them the guarantees of their bliss, purifying themselves through contemplation and activity. They settled on the mountain of Divine Light, like the apostles. And to many their holiness was shown as a clear testimony, when their faces shone like the face of Stephen, and grace poured out not only from their hearts, but also from their faces. They, as those who saw them testified, seemed like the great Moses, with faces shining like the sun. They, as those who have valiantly endured blessed suffering and acquired knowledge by experience, clearly reveal the teaching about the Divine Light of God’s natural action and grace through the examples of saints, as well as the teaching about sacred prayer. 260. What is sacred prayer This divine prayer is the invocation of our Savior: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me; it is both a prayer (προσευχή) and a vow (ευχη). This prayer is: • an instrument of communication with the Holy Spirit; • conductor of Divine gifts; • source of spiritual thoughts and Divine thoughts; • liberation from sins; • healing of souls and bodies; • mediator of Divine illumination; • attracting God's mercy; • dispenser of revelations and Divine secrets for the humble; • the source of salvation, since it carries within itself the saving name of our God. And we should call on only one name - the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), as the apostle says. So it is: • prayer, because in it we ask for Divine mercy; • and a vow, because through the calling of Christ we promise ourselves to Christ; • and confession, because, having confessed this, Peter was called blessed; • and the gift of the Spirit, because “no one can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3); • and a conductor of Divine gifts, because for her Christ promised Peter: “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 16:17–19); • and cleansing of the heart, because thanks to it, the one who prays sees and calls on God and, looking at Him, is cleansed; • and driving away demons, because in the name of Jesus Christ demons were driven away and are now being driven away; • and the indwelling of Christ, because Christ, when we remember Him, abides in us, for this remembrance he indwells and fills us with joy: “I remembered,” it is said, “God and rejoiced” (Ps. 76:4); • and the source of spiritual thoughts and thoughts, because Christ is the treasure of all wisdom and knowledge, and bestows such on those in whom he dwells; • and liberation from sins, because for her sake it is said: “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19); • and healing of souls and bodies, because it is said: “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk” (Acts 3:6), and also: “Aeneas! Jesus Christ heals you” (Acts 9:34); • and a conductor of Divine illumination, because Christ is the true Light and communicates His lordship and grace to those who call upon Him: “And bring the lordship of the Lord our God upon us” (Ps. 89:17), and also: “whoever follows Me will... have the light of life” (John 8:12); • and attracting God's mercy, because we ask for mercy, and the Lord is merciful, merciful to all who call on Him and will soon take vengeance on those who cry out to Him; • the dispenser of Divine revelations and secrets for the humble, because she herself was given to the fisherman Peter through the revelation of the Heavenly Father, and Paul was delighted with Christ and heard the revelations, and this prayer always has such an effect; • and the source of salvation, because, says the apostle, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), and again: “He is truly the Savior of the world, Christ” (John 4:42), so that on the last day every tongue, willingly or unwillingly, will confess and sing, “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11); • and a sign of our faith, since we are Christians and are called Christians; • and the testimony that we are from God, because, as we previously said, “every spirit that confesses the Lord Jesus Christ who has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God, but is the spirit of Antichrist” (1 John 4:2-3). Therefore, all believers must unceasingly confess the name of Christ for the sake of the proclamation of faith, for the sake of love for our Lord Jesus Christ, from which nothing can ever completely separate us, for the sake of grace flowing from His name, for the sake of remission and remission of sins, healing, sanctification, illumination and, most of all, for the sake of salvation. The apostles taught about this Divine name and accomplished wondrous deeds. And the divine evangelist says: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God”: this is faith! - “and believing, they had life in His name” (John 20:31): here is salvation and life! 261. That Christians: clergy, monks and laity – should, if possible, pray in the name of Jesus Christ, at least at certain times Let every pious Christian always pronounce such an invocation, like a prayer, with his mind and tongue, standing and walking, sitting and lying down, talking and working, and let him constantly force himself to do this. Such a person will find the greatest silence and joy, as people who practice it know from experience. But since this is not always entirely convenient for people living in the world, and for the monks themselves when they are in the world, everyone should devote at least a certain amount of time to prayer. And everyone should have this prayer as a model and perform it whenever possible, both priests, monks, and laity. Monks, as those who have condemned themselves to this and have an unconditional duty in relation to this prayer, even if they are in the midst of the bustle of official activities, let them force themselves to perform it and pray to the Lord incessantly, even if they are in confusion and confusion of mind when it is carried away by something. Let them not indulge in carelessness, so as not to be robbed by the enemy, but let them turn to prayer - in it they will find joy for themselves. Let sacred persons take care of this matter as an apostolic and divine preaching, as a matter that produces divine fruits, thereby testifying to their love for Christ. Let those living in the world perform this prayer as much as their strength allows, seeing in it the seal and sign of their faith, protection, sanctification and a weapon against every temptation. So, everyone: priests, laity, and monks, having risen from sleep, must first of all think about Christ and first of all remember Him, thereby presenting to Christ the firstfruits and sacrifice of every thought. We must remember Christ first of all, because He saved us and loved us greatly. We are Christians and are called Christians, we have put on Christ in divine baptism, we have been sealed with His peace, we have partaken and partook of His Holy Flesh and Blood, we are His members and churches, we are clothed in Him, and He dwells in us - we must love Him and remember Him always. Therefore, let everyone make it a duty, if possible, to perform this prayer at a certain time and a certain number of times. And enough of this, since there is still quite a lot left to be said for the instruction of those who proposed questions to us. First of all, we need to say, as already mentioned, about the Divine prayers of the Church, which are performed according to rite, since we were asked about this too. If possible, we will consider this. So, first of all, we say that prayer is an angelic work and that the Church cares about it as a most sacred matter. For every other deed, such as almsgiving, serving brothers, visiting the weak, caring for those in prison, ransoming captives and similar deeds done out of love for brothers - only through these our neighbors reaches God. Likewise, voluntary poverty, fasting, lying on the bare ground, kneeling, vigil and other feats undertaken to depress the body, to cleanse, draw closer to God and please Him, are good as a sacrifice to God, but do not relate directly to Him, and prayer ascends to God Himself, ascends directly to Him, makes the one praying His friend, introduces him into conversation with Him, inspires boldness before Him, begs Him and does one thing with Him. So, prayer should be silent and unceasing, like that of the Angels, since only God requires this from us, so that we remember Him and remain with Him, seek Him alone, love and contemplate, so that in this way we receive His benefits from Him directly and directly. But since, due to our physicality and the necessary requirements of the flesh, this is impossible for us, this gift of God is communicated occasionally and only to some - equal to the angels, the Church, out of necessity, has established certain and absolutely obligatory hours for prayer, during which every believer is already obliged to pray. 262. That, in addition to the Liturgy, there are seven daily praises in the Church There are seven prayer times per day, according to the number of gifts of the Spirit, since sacred prayers are given by the Spirit. They are the following: Midnight Office, Matins together with the first hour, third hour, sixth, ninth, Vespers and Compline. The prophet David also speaks about them: “During the seven days we praised You” (Ps. 119:164), and, in particular, he mentions each time. “The midnight rose” (Ps. 119:62); “O God, my God, to You in the morning” (Ps. 62:2); “In the morning hear my voice, in the morning I will appear to You, and you will see me” (Ps. 5:4). About the third and sixth hours and vespers he says this: “Evening and morning and noon I will proclaim and proclaim, and he will hear my voice” (Ps. 54:18). About Compline this way: “I will wash my bed every night, I will wet my bed with my tears” (Ps. 6:7). 263. Why there are seven praises The reasons for each prayer time are as follows. Midnight Office - for the sake of wakefulness and silent praise of the Angels, for the sake of silence and peace of mind during divine praise, for the glory of the Resurrection of the Lord, since He rose very early, “on the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2; Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1), and for the sake of His Second Coming, which we all believers await, when He awakens us from death, like sleep, and when this Bridegroom of souls, as it is said, will come at midnight - which obliges us to stay awake. Matins - for the sake of the coming of the day and for giving thanks to Him who produced light, dispelled the darkness of error and sent down to us the light of piety. Therefore, the doxology of the first hour is also combined with Matins - for the sake of the beginning of the day and in order to bring the doxology together with Matins as a gift and sacrifice of praise to God for the fact that all creatures have been illuminated with light. Therefore, we call them, together with the Angels, to praise God. We sing the third hour in honor of the Trinity and because the fourth of the four parts of the day has already passed, and also for the sake of the descent of the All-Holy Spirit on the apostles at the third hour. In a similar way, we sing the sixth hour - for the glory of the Trinity, which produced everything, and because another quarter of the day has passed for the four-hour world, embracing three hours and constituting exactly half the day. But at that same hour the Incarnate One was crucified for our sake. The doxology of the ninth hour is in honor of the Trinity and because after the sixth hour three more have passed. In the same way, Vespers at the twelfth hour is for the three hours that have passed after the ninth. Especially the doxology of the third hour is in honor of the Holy Trinity, the God of all and our only God, in memory of Peter’s denial of the Savior and the descent at this hour on the apostles of the Holy Spirit, by whom we, believers, are enlightened. Thanksgiving on the sixth day is celebrated at midday and in memory of the crucifixion at this hour of the Lord and the darkness that covered the whole earth when the Savior suffered for us in the flesh. The singing of the ninth hour is for the sake of the fact that the day is coming to an end, and for the sake of the Trinity, glorified by the threefold nine ranks of angels; especially - for the sake of the fact that at this hour our Savior died, betrayed His Divine soul, made a perfect Sacrifice for us and offered Himself up for all, soul and body, to God the Father, and “and the earth shook; and the stones dissipated; and the tombs were opened" in anticipation of the general resurrection; “and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” (Matthew 27:51–52), since by the death of the Lord death was put to death and those in hell were freed. Through the soul of our Savior, which He betrayed to the Father, and the flesh, voluntarily sacrificed on the Cross, our souls were plucked from the hands of the devil and our bodies received immortality with the resurrection of the Lord. So, in the service of the ninth hour, we give thanks to Him who died for us in the flesh, and with His holy soul gave our souls into the hands of the Father, and by His death revived us. The singing of Vespers naturally indicates that we glorify our Creator in it for the fact that we have reached the end of the day and want to devote the rest of it to God. At the same time, we thank Him for our life, for food, thoughts, words and deeds, and we ask for a peaceful night, sinless and free from temptations, which foretells the end of our life, since death comes to us like night. 264. Why do we begin singing on saints’ days and holy holidays in the evening? Therefore, in the evening we begin to sing praises to the saints, because they, having lived throughout the day of this life in the light of God’s grace and having ended this day, with their souls remain in the unapproachable light, and with their bodies are still in the power of death, awaiting the last and non-evening day. Then, having become bodily again at the sound of the trumpet and having risen with us, they will appear with us there in the flesh. As for Compline, it is thanksgiving for the night, for rest from work, and a reminder of death, which follows on our heels. Compline is also thanksgiving for the beginning of the night, because it is a gift from God and one of His creations for our sake and for the sake of other creatures. Compline is also a prayer that we may pass the night without temptation from hostile, envious, dark and gloomy demons from which Christ our God freed us. These are the rites of singing that David calls the seven praises. The departure and succession of each of them is carried out as it is written in the church charter of the Orthodox Church, in the one according to which the rite of the sacred liturgy itself is observed, as stated. 265. That the Divine Liturgy is a special service, entrusted to the priests by the Savior Himself, and does not merge with other prayers, and is not counted among them This Divine and most sacred of services is not included among the seven doxologies, but is a special service, the institution of the one Jesus and the work of the priests. We did not mention it between the doxologies because it is not counted among them, since it is something superior, it is an excellent work of God and is performed not by anyone else, but only by the priests of God. Other adherences to the statute of the Great Church are currently not observed in other churches, even in the most Christ-loving and royal city, because, after it was once taken by the Latins, this good and ancient custom was abandoned. However, it seems to me also because this requires many priests and singers. However, the Church of Constantinople observes this rite on the Feast of the Exaltation, if only it performs a laudatory (ασματικην) sequence, both on the Dormition of the Mother of God, and in memory of John Chrysostom. However, this order is indicated by the prayers of the lamp and the morning, which are also called εωθιναι, arranged and observed according to the ancient rule, as well as the so-called prayers of the all-night vigil and the prayer of vespers itself, taken from the laudatory sequence, for the prayers to God offered by the priest at the same time are sung by the singers. This is shown by both the prayer of the fiftieth psalm and the prayer of praise. But the most laudatory following is not performed in other cities, although it is well composed and ascends to God in psalms and songs. In our most pious city of Thessalonica alone, in its great church, this wonderful custom of the great churches is observed and remains, as you know, brother - I mean, the capital and Antioch, and very many others. 266. About observance of the so-called laudatory following And in the name of Christ I beg you to always observe this rite and preserve this tradition of the fathers as a kind of Divine spark. Meanwhile, wanting it to be observed and remain intact, we added to it, as it were, a pleasant seasoning - the singing of canons, so that anyone, loving to grumble about good things and having no idea about this rite, and being lazy and careless himself, would not find an excuse to think about abolishing this rite, in order to say that we are listening to unused and usually not sung canons. Since now they too are sanctified by custom, and this following to intelligent and zealous people seems decorous and more pleasant than the following that happens in monasteries. 267. About the Jerusalem Charter In the monasteries and in almost all churches, the rite of the Jerusalem Rule of Saint Sava is observed, because it can be performed alone, since it was compiled for monks and is often performed in cenobias without singing. Of course, this institution is caused by necessity and is a matter of paternal discretion. And our holy father Savva drew up this charter, receiving it from saints Euthymius and Theoktistus, and they received it from those who preceded them and from the confessor Chariton. The outline of the charter of Sava the Sanctified, lost during the devastation of that place by the barbarians, was subsequently outlined by the patriarch of the holy city, known for his hard work, our holy father Sophronius. After him, our divine father and theologian John of Damascus renewed this charter and, having written it, handed it over for use. Then all the sacred monasteries and churches followed this charter. Only a few of them retained their charter, borrowed from ancient times from the Great Church of Constantinople, for a certain time, and in secular churches they do not read the Psalter, except during the Great Pentecost, since doing everything according to the charter is beyond the strength of people living in the world. Only all sacred monasteries do this. 268. About the Midnight Office and why they hit the board At midnight, or a little later, when the board is struck, as if depicting the last trumpet of the Angel, everyone awakens from sleep, as from death. Then, when the priest, representing Christ and having His priesthood, in the vestibule of the church, as if on earth before heaven, gives the blessing (as prayers must begin with a priest, and he, like everyone else, must begin with God), then the brethren all say together: “Glory to you, our God, glory to you,” and read what follows in order. The first thing to do is to give glory to God and then continue what follows. 269. What does it mean, in the absence of a priest, to read at the beginning “the prayers of our holy fathers” When there is no priest, then the first one or one of the brethren begins, but does not say: “Blessed is Our God,” because he does not have grace for that, but begs Christ to have mercy with the prayers of the father, humbling himself in Christ and not relying on himself, but on the prayers of the fathers, to whom the bishops and priests belong, and with the prayers of the entire rank of saints, whom he calls fathers. Then they call on the Holy Spirit, who performs prayers, to come and dwell, to cleanse and save us, for if we are not guided by the Divine Spirit, then “we do not know what to pray for as we ought” (Rom. 8:26), since by Him we live, thanks to Him we pray, according to Paul, and “by whom we cry: “Abba, Father!”” (Rom. 8:15) After this, immediately, in imitation of the Angels, they read the Trisagion and the Most Holy Trinity for the sake of mercy flowing from the Trinity, for the sake of praise equal to that of the angels, for the sake of confession of the One God in the Trinity. Then they read the prayer taught by the Lord, the explanation of which, if possible, we will present in another place (and many have explained the meaning of this Divine prayer, especially Saint Gregory of Nyssa). When the priest finishes the prayer for the sake of doxology, then they say twelve times: “Lord, have mercy,” in accordance with the twelve hours of the day. Then it is said three times: “Come, let us worship our King God,” as David sings and as Athanasius the Great teaches us to do this at the beginning of our prayers, which expresses that there is only one eternal King - Christ with the Father and the Spirit. At the same time, we bow as a sign that we are servants of God, and read psalms according to the charter. 270. About the fiftieth psalm First of all, we read the fiftieth psalm, which is a song of confession and propitiation, which prays for mercy for the sinner and that the Holy Spirit not depart from him, but that through contrition and humility of the heart he may be even more renewed in him. That is why we read this psalm at the beginning of many songs, since it seems to speak about the fate of Adam and our entire family, and the Church from the tongue, about how at first, being unfaithful, she allowed adultery, apostasy from God, murder and mortification, and was herself killed by voluptuousness and disobedience, and then was sought by God’s mercy and received the Holy Spirit, generously renewed in her. 271. About the psalms of the Immaculate After this, we read the Psalms of the Immaculate One verse by verse, bringing to mind the Kingdom of God and His judgments, justifications, testimonies, words and laws. Therefore, we read these same psalms both on the days of remembrance of the saints, and over the believers who have departed from here, remembering the saints and the path of the Savior, since He alone is blameless in the way and those who imitated Him are blameless, through this imitation they propitiated God and received sanctification. 272. Why is the Creed read both morning and evening? Then, after the Immaculates, according to paternal tradition, we read the confession of faith, because our holy fathers say: having risen (from sleep), give glory to God, then confess the faith. And this faith is contained in the sacred Symbol. Another of the holy fathers says that we must confess the faith morning and evening, so that if death comes, it will find us in confession. Directly following the Symbol are the prayers of the Trisagion and Our Father. For the Trinity must be sung at the beginning, and in the middle, and at the end, since She is the cause (beginning) of everything, through Her we accomplish everything, we are perfected and purified in everything. Then “Behold the Bridegroom cometh,” indicating the purpose of the glorification of the Midnight Office, and forty times “Lord, have mercy,” and we offer to God, as it were, a tithe sacrifice of our days and hours. And we do this with all prayers, calling on God’s mercy for everything, because He alone is able to save us, and we try to be worthy of His mercy and can only be saved by God’s mercy, having nothing in ourselves to appease God, or, more precisely, offending Him with our deeds, words and thoughts. Therefore, we are unworthy to thank, praise, or ask, but we can only say: “Lord, have mercy,” and hope in the only merciful God. After “Lord, have mercy,” we invoke the Mother of God, as truly the most honest Seraphim, since She is also the Intercessor for everyone. And immediately follows, like a seal, the prayer of the priest “God, gracious to us,” which Moses commanded Aaron to say in the name of God. The Godfather David expressed it more clearly in a psalm (Ps. 66:2). After it, another prayer is said on behalf of everyone - to the Trinity. It is, as it were, a confession, and we read it three times a day (also at the third hour and at the doxology of Compline). As you know, the ancients also sang it, as for example, during the suffering of the Great Martyr Eustratius: “Sovereign God, Father Almighty, Lord, only begotten Son Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit, one Divinity, one power,” etc. At the end of it, it is read as if between the hours of the midnight office, which some do during the successive hours. But let them, as they please, perform other successions at their own discretion and the reasoning of the fathers - such is their custom. As for the mentioned prayer, I think that it is composed for those who have departed in Christ. Therefore, after this prayer we immediately read: “Come, let us worship,” two psalms, the Trisagion prayer and immediately troparia for the departed, twelve times “Lord, have mercy,” and the prayer for them, “Remember, Lord.” Then there is a vacation. It is necessary to remember the dead, because we too will die. It is especially necessary to pray at the Midnight Office in the hope of the resurrection of the dead, for the sake of love to pray for relatives in the flesh and for all those who have passed away. Then follows a prayer and petition for everyone in general, and the priest begins, and everyone with him prays for the blessed kings, Orthodox bishops, for the superior father, for all our brotherhood in Christ and other Christians, as well as for our fathers and brothers who have died in Orthodoxy. At the end of the prayers, it is very useful to remember everyone, because by doing this everywhere, we all pray for each other and thus, according to the words of God’s brother James, we can, willingly or unwillingly, heal ourselves and save ourselves (James 5:16). The common prayers are sealed with the prayers of the saints by our father, the first of the priests, calling on Christ our God to show mercy. 273. About the observance of Matins and, first of all, about what the opening of the doors of the church, the entrance into it and the incense mean So, the midnight singing is over. The doors of the church open like heaven, and we enter into it, as if ascending from the earth, just as at the Second Coming the servants of Christ will be caught up in the clouds, “and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). The incense, similar to a cloud, depicts the Holy Spirit and the communication of His Divine grace and fragrance. Immediately after everyone has entered, when the rector passes through the royal gates, like Christ who passed through the closed gates named in us - through the Mother of God, and who opened the gates of heaven for us, and the others pass on either side of him, as if being under his wings and serving him, then the priest at the throne utters an exclamation, like a servant of Christ, blessing Him with the Father and the Spirit before the throne and His saints. And everyone sings the Trisagion according to the Lord’s Prayer, chanting the Trinity with the Angels and saying the prayer handed down to us by the fathers. About the “Trisagion” prayer, it is worth briefly saying to remember that this is an ancient prayer and was composed by the ancient fathers, which is why the Church sings it constantly: both at the Divine Liturgy and at the end of other prayers. And the Church afflicts the ancient heretics who add something to the “Trisagion” with anathema, while she herself sings out this Heavenly hymn, which she received from Heaven through the youth who was raptured there. Such is the “Trisagion” and all the prayer offered with it to our One God in the Trinity. The Trisagion is composed of an angelic song and the words of David. The angels sing: “holy, holy, holy” (Isa. 6:3); and David says: “My soul thirsts for the mighty, living God” (Ps. 41:3), and in the fiftieth psalm he cries out: “Have mercy on me” (Ps. 50:3). This song clearly preaches the trinity of Persons and the unity of the being and power of the Trinity. Like her, the prayer “Holy Trinity, have mercy on us” teaches trinity and unity; “Lord, cleanse” points to the Father; “Master, forgive” - to the Son; “Holy One, visit” refers to the Holy Spirit, and the words “for Thy name’s sake” indicate their inseparability in essence. And well we say to the Father: “Cleanse,” having a mediator between Him and us in the Son; - to the Son: “forgive” (συγχωρησον), since He descended to us, suffered for us and endured torment for people, and we, who have clothed ourselves with Him in baptism and confirmation and unite with Him in Communion and other Sacraments, anger and insult Him. On the other hand, we ask Him for forgiveness because He gave the power to bind and decide, and established forgiveness. We ask the Holy Spirit to “visit,” because He gives life, heals and strengthens us, and without His power and gift nothing good can happen in us. And “Lord, have mercy” tells us about the Trinity. One Lord is Trinity. The threefold repetition of “Lord, have mercy” points to Her and calls Her to mercy on us. It is also obvious that “glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” is the confession of the One Trinity and the eternal praise of Her. That’s why we read it often, both at the end of the chants and at the beginning. The prayer “Our Father,” although it refers to the Father and is given through the Son, but since the Trinity is inseparable, and there is one name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and God (ο Θεος) is the Father of lights - the Son and the Spirit, and the Father in the Son and the Spirit, as the Son and the Spirit in the Father, this prayer also refers to the Trinity and with the word Father recalls both the Son and the Spirit. The Church also testifies to this, saying: “For yours is the kingdom of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Meanwhile, the priest burns incense on the throne, the church and all those praying, giving honor to sacred things as divine objects, and sanctifying those who are coming. Therefore, starting from the Holy of Holies - the throne, he censes everything in order, not just burning incense, but sealing and sanctifying it and through prayer bringing and lifting it up to Christ, may the incense be accepted and may the grace of the All-Holy Spirit be sent down to us. Thus, through incense we receive grace, and let no one neglect incense. Having quickly walked around the entire church and surrounded it, at the end of the prayer “Our Father”, he enters the gates of the church and, making the sign of the cross with the censer, says: “For Thine is the kingdom,” thereby sealing the prayer, as Christ taught, and glorifying the Trinity. Then he censes the abbot again, giving him honor as if he were Christ, as well as the iconostasis. Then, entering the altar and standing before the Divine throne and the sacred tomb of Christ, after outside the altar they say: “Bless, Father,” he proclaims in a sublime tone and with reverence: “Glory to the Holy One, Consubstantial and Life-Giving and Inseparable and All-Powerful Trinity,” before any song theologizing about the Author of all and the Lord, the One in the Trinity, the God of all, and praising Him. Thus he proclaims the beginning of the hymn to be the One who is the beginning and the end of everything. When they then say: “Amen,” which means “truly so,” with the silence of all, signifying the divinely inspired broadcast of Angels about the destinies of God and reverence, then a specially appointed reader, in the image of an Angel sent from God, begins the angelic song sung at the birth of the Lord, which was then foreshadowed by one Angel, appearing to the shepherds. “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great host of heaven, praising God and crying: Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:13–14). For the Angels, this is the beginning of the praise of our salvation. Therefore, even now, one of the readers begins with this song and says three times in honor of the Glorious Trinity: “Glory to God in the highest,” and, having said twice in a row: “Lord, open my lips,” for the third time he says the following, also in honor of the Trinity: “Lord, why have I multiplied the cold,” and reads the six psalms of Matins, after every three psalms performing a doxology Trinity. Meanwhile, the priest silently offers morning prayers to God, being an intercessor for what is read, and making valid what is sung, since everything is accomplished by the priesthood. That is why the priest begins, and the priest finishes. Having performed the morning prayers before God, at the end of the Six Psalms, he reads the Peaceful Petitions, praying for everyone, so that the glory of the Lord will shine upon them, as a sign of which all the lamps are lit. At the same time, the voice is sung: “God is the Lord and appeared to us” - the Word of God incarnate; “blessed is he who comes” - He is like God in the flesh; “in the name of the Lord” - in the name of the Father and the Son. Then, if there is a holiday, the troparion of the holiday is sung; if the memory of a saint, then a troparion to this saint, since through the Incarnate the nature was sanctified. And it is very appropriate to depict at night the circumstances of the birth and appearance of the Savior in the flesh, since He was born at night and, according to Isaiah, to us, “who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, the light shone” (Is. 9:2; Matt. 4:16). And in this life, as in the night, we await the coming in the middle of the night of our beloved and loving Bridegroom of souls. Following this, the verse of the Psalter is performed, and after three psalms - “doxology” and “hallelujah”, with the words “glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” glorifying the Trinity, and with the word “hallelujah”, which is given the meaning “God is coming,” the Incarnation is glorified. In this case, “hallelujah” means the Coming of God to earth. The first is in the poverty of the flesh, and the second, the last, is in the glory that we expect from Heaven. The reading of the Holy Scriptures is also supposed to teach about this sacrament and in praise of the saints being celebrated, for when the triumph of the next century comes, the mysteries of God will be glorified, especially the mysteries of His incarnation, and with them the victories of those who fought for Him, just as at the victorious festivities of the king those who fought for him will be crowned, as John Chrysostom often says. After reading the Scripture, the song of Polyeleos is sung, as 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, our liberation from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, that is, the devil and demons. Our exodus, after the multiplication of sorrows, is announced from the sea of ​​temptations to the dry, solid and unshakable land of life, accomplished by the power of God and the fact that in baptism He strengthened us with the power of the Cross, like a rod. This song proclaims liberation from the desert bitterness with which we were punished for our negligence in fulfilling the commandments and for murmuring against God about our labors, despite the fact that we do not feed on manna, but on the Bread of Life and drink the streams of Blood that flowed from the side of Christ, i.e. freedom from the former life is proclaimed. The liberation of the Church from Diocletian, Maximin the apostate and other most wicked rulers is proclaimed, as if from Amalek, Zion, Og and the like, and with the fall of the kingdom of these infidels, liberation from the power of demons is given, which cause sorrows and various temptations to the saints in this life, and after temptations and labors - entry into the promised land and Heavenly inheritance through Jesus, the Son of the Living God, Who will and the steward of the inheritance, and our inheritance, who takes us out from among the infidels and brings us into the Heavenly Jerusalem, who, as the great High Priest, gives the rights of the priesthood and the sacrifice of life and, as the one King by nature, will distribute the future Kingdom - and to His Kingdom there will be no end. After these hymns, other psalms are sung in relation to the holiday or memory of the saint, containing announcements of the wonderful deeds of God - and all this is captured and concluded by reading the Gospel. As soon as the mystery of the Incarnation is revealed through the Gospel, then a choir is formed and songs of victory are sung in the canons. 274. About the nine songs of the canons Therefore, all the songs sung by the holy prophets are sung. The first is the song of Miriam, Moses' sister, as Israel crossed the Red Sea. The second is the song of Moses as he passes through the desert. The third is the song of Anna, upon the resolution of barrenness, which is also a prayer of gratitude for the sacred fruit - Samuel, in the image of the Church, which was at first barren, and then, according to the gospel, conceived and gave birth to such priests as Samuel, through priests - such kings as David and the apostles and priests who descended from him. And through them - Christian kings. The fourth song is the song of Habakkuk, who saw God coming from Teman, the overshadowed mountain, or the unsetting Sun - Christ, who came from the east - from the Virgin. The fifth is to Isaiah, who proclaimed this miracle: “Behold, the Virgin will conceive and give birth... Immanuel a” (Is. 7:14), and proclaimed other deeds of the Beloved, and the resurrection from the dead. The sixth is the song of Jonah, who through his stay in the belly of the whale prefigured the Three-day Buried and Resurrected One. The seventh is a song to God of the three youths who were not scorched in the oven, in the image of the Divine Resurrection. The eighth hymn is a praise to them, which they offered up to God together with all creation, clearly expressing the knowledge of the universe about God descending and watering them in the oven, which prefigured the most sacred baptism. The ninth is Zechariah’s prophecy about his son, pronounced at his birth, who was called to become the forerunner of grace. This song is connected with another, which is higher than this and all songs - the song of the one All-Immaculate, Most Holy and Pure Mother of God, the Glorious Mary, a prophetic, theological, sacred song, expressing bliss and completing all songs, as sung about the unartificial birth from Her, in which He who became incarnate from Her took us, the new Israel, as promised to Abraham. So, these nine, like songs of victory and thanksgiving, the Church sings on the canons every time in the triple image of the Divine Trinity. And he divides them into three sections, in each of which there are three songs, thereby giving honor to the Trinity, and the priest pronounces a doxology. 275. About chants pronounced while sitting Then they sit down and sing, on the one hand, to give some rest to the flesh, on the other, because both sitting and standing one must chant God. Meanwhile, for general edification, one reads from the works of the holy fathers about the circumstances of the holiday. According to the sixth song, as soon as the priest proclaims the doxology, the kontakion is read - an abbreviated praise of the holiday and ikos - a lengthy praise of the holiday, a verse containing all the circumstances of the holiday or the life of each saint, and placed after the kontakion in the form of a small song. Then the so-called synaxarion is read, telling briefly either about the circumstances of the holiday, or about the deeds of the saints who died on this day, and briefly listing the exploits of the celebrated saint and others, and praising each of them in verse. After the eighth, before the ninth canto, the Mother of God is magnified above all the saints, through whom God accomplished truly great and wondrous deeds, since He became incarnate from Her and thereby revealed Her as superior to the Seraphim and Cherubim. In Her Divine Song these deeds are sung. At the end of the ninth song, the priest, together with the Angels, praises the Trinity. 277. About exapostilary, praise and great doxology Then the exapostilary is read before the praisers, so called from the words “send down Thy light,” like a light-giving song. Then follows the singing of praise, in which all creation is called upon: Angels and all creatures - to the praise of their Creator and it is proclaimed that all the works of God are wrought by the Word and the Spirit. “That speech,” it is said, “was, He commanded, and was created” (Ps. 32:9): “speech” - in the Word, “commanded” - by the power of the Spirit. After the prescribed songs of praise and glory, and now in honor of the Trinity, a great doxology is performed, about which it was briefly said before: “Glory to God in the highest.” Only now it is sung more separately and in parts, and all together: as if the sacrament had already been revealed to the whole world: not only to the shepherds, but to all peoples. That is why it is said: “We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we bow to Thee, we praise Thee, we thank Thee, great for the sake of Thy glory.” For heaven and earth are filled with His glory. Whose? - God in the Trinity. That is why the Church theologizes, crying out: “Lord the Heavenly King, God the Father Almighty, Lord the Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ and Holy Soul.” Here: she proclaims three Persons in a single Divinity, for, saying: “in the highest to God” and “we praise Thee,” she indicates unity, and defines the Persons by number. Further, she clearly sings of the Incarnation of God when she cries out: “Lord God, Lamb of God,” taking His name from Isaiah and the Forerunner (Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29), because of His suffering and slaughter; “Son of the Father” - borrowing from the Gospel; “take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us, take away the sins of the world, accept our prayer” - from Isaiah (Is. 53:5); “Sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us” - from the Gospel; and “receive and have mercy” - from David; “For You alone are holy, You alone are Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father, Amen” - from Paul (Phil. 2:11); “I will bless You every day and praise Your name forever and ever” - from the divine David (Ps. 33:2); the rest in prayer and petition is from the books of the prophets. In conclusion, an angelic song is sung, which is the seal of every song, because it ascends to the one God - the Holy Trinity: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” This song, as we said earlier, was composed from ancient times by the fathers and is called, as said, the great doxology. And every believer must delve into it and understand it, and every day, morning and evening, lift it up to God, because it is the confession and glorification of the one God in the Holy Trinity, and the praise of the incarnation and redemption, the crucifixion and ascension of the Word of God, one of the Persons of the Trinity. It is also 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 that the Lord, who has become our refuge through the Incarnation, will have mercy on us, crying out with David: “Have mercy and heal my soul, for I have sinned against You” (here is the confession); “I have fled to You,” I will take refuge of all, “teach me to do Your will, for You are my God” - Father with the Son and the Spirit. That is why it is added: “For you have the source of life” - the Holy Spirit, “in Your light” - in the Holy Spirit, “we will see the light” - the Son; “show your mercy to those who lead You” - the true God and Father with Your Word and Spirit, according to the power of the incarnation of Your Son. For this reason, the Trisagion hymn is sung in order. 279. What do the words “Holy, Holy, Holy” and so on mean in the Trisagion? Among the Angels, this song, as we learned from Isaiah, is sung like this: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, fill the heavens and the earth with His glory” (Is. 6:3). Its meaning is as follows, as we were taught by Saint Athanasius and other fathers: holy the Father, holy the Son, holy the Holy Spirit - these are the three Persons. The Lord of hosts is the unity of the Divine, the identity of nature and the equality of glory. Thus Thus, it is said three times holy to denote the trinity of Persons and once - the Lord to denote the unity of the Divinity. Fill heaven and earth with His glory - because of the knowledge of the Trisagion of God, the All-Holy Trinity, given, according to the Divine Economy, to the peoples through the Angels and Apostles of Christ and filled with His Glory above and below, it is said because there is one glory of the Trinity, one power and will and action, and there is one God in the Trinity. 280. What do the words “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us” mean? Well, from ancient times, the fathers composed the “Thresagion” hymn, taking from the angelic song: “Holy, Holy, Holy”, from the words of David, praising God in the Trinity: “My soul thirsted for the mighty, living God” (Ps. 41:3) (the words God, mighty, immortal), and again borrowing from David for prayer: “have mercy on us” ( Ps. 50). They say: “Holy God” - Holy from the words of the Angels, “God” - from the words of David; also: “Mighty holy” - Holy from the words of the Angels, strong - from the words of David; and the third time: “Holy immortal” - holy from the words of the Angels, immortal - from the words of David, using immortal instead of “Have mercy on us” - from his words. since David spoke it by the Holy Spirit. The Savior testifies to this, saying: “David spoke by the Spirit” (Matthew 22:43). Next. “God” is said about the Father, because He is the source and root of the Divinity and the author of the Son and the Spirit; “mighty” – about the Son, because He is the arm of the Father and hypostatic power, since Christ, according to Paul, is “the strength of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24); “immortal” – about the Holy Spirit, because life is from the Spirit, “the Spirit”, as it is said, “gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6) and is the strong power of God and the immortal life of the One who always lives. To this “Trisagion” song the heretics made a very important and at the same time meaningless addition through a certain dishonest Peter Knatheus, who wanted to add “crucified for us” to the song of the impassive Trinity. The addition is extremely blasphemous, because the Trinity is impassive, immutable and incorporeal and because God the Word, the only incarnate one, one of the Persons of the indivisible Trinity, suffered not in the Divinity, but in the flesh, while His Divinity remained impassive and uncrucified, just as when forging and heating iron, fire does not endure anything along with it, does not change and is not subject to transformation, but purifies and heats iron, as the divine Basil says. However, the heresy of Knatheus, which for a long time kindled a fiery trial in the Church, was again extinguished by the power of God, who performed a miracle in the Christ-loving city of Constantine, during the reign of Theodosius the Younger, during a church prayer service: one youth from among the people was lifted into the air and, returning, announced that the Angels were singing like this: “Holy God, Mighty Holy, Immortal Holy, have mercy on us." Having said this, he died. So, behold, the Church received the Trisagion hymn from the Holy Spirit not only through the prophets, but also through her children in the Holy Spirit. God the Trinity gave evidence that this angelic song is silently sung to the same Trinity. This song, which had already received its real form, immediately stopped the earthquake that happened at that time. Since then, the Church has sung it as God-given, together with the Angels at all services, especially together with the divinely inspired song and the great doxology at the end of Matins and at the sacred liturgy. The Great Doxology is sung every time on holidays and days of remembrance of the celebrated saints, and on other days, as well as on days of sorrow, according to the rites of the charter, it is read alone and after it the prayer of the Trisagion, which we needed to briefly talk about for the sake of those who asked us. 282. When the Trisagion is read The Trisagion Prayer is read at the beginning, in the middle, and often at the end of each sequence, because it all refers to our God, the One in the Trinity. It begins with an angelic song and ends with the Savior’s prayer. You know the words of the latter, but the meaning is this: the Trisagion is said three times in order to praise the Holy Trinity three times, as we said. 283. About the song “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” and who composed it And another hymn to the glory of the Holy Trinity was composed by the holy fathers, namely, as they say, Saints Meletius and Flavian, the Patriarchs of Antioch: “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages, Amen.” All this is against Arius and Sabellius, who think wickedly. “Glory” is against the Arians, because the glory of the Holy Trinity is one and the Trinity is consubstantial; “To the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” - against Sabellius, who blasphemously preached that the Holy Trinity is one Person; “now and ever” and so on - because the Holy Trinity is one and the same, always exists, and is unchangeable, and the glory of the Trinity is now, and always, and will be forever. Then “Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us.” And this prayer was compiled by the fathers. First, it mentions three Persons together because They are one Godhead, and one being, and one power, and thus the Trinity is indivisible. Then, the number of Persons is determined by their characteristics. About the Father it is said: “Lord, cleanse our sins”; about the Son: “Master, forgive our iniquities”; about the Holy Spirit: “Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities.” And immediately after this the unity of the three Persons is expressed: “for Thy name’s sake.” The Father is Lord, as well as consubstantial, and the Son is Lord, and the Spirit is Lord, since there is one dominion of three Persons, and one Trinity is one Lord. The Son is Ruler because both the Father and the Holy Spirit rule over everything. The Spirit is Holy because the Father is Holy and the Son is Holy. “Have mercy on us” - taken from David; “Cleanse our sins” - the cry of the publican from the divine Gospel; “Forgive our iniquities” - from the words of the Gospel; “leave it to us” - from the prophetic and paternal ones; “visit and heal our infirmities” - from the Gospel and Psalms; “for your name’s sake” – also from the psalms. Next, “Lord, have mercy” three times. This is in honor of the Holy Trinity, since the Trinity is one Lord, and it is said three times in honor of the Trinity: “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Lord). Then immediately glory to the Father and so on in honor of the Consubstantial Trinity. Finally, the Savior’s prayer is read, the meaning of which we will briefly explain to the best of our ability. 284. Brief interpretation of the most sacred prayer “Our Father” "Our Father!" - because He is our Creator, who created us from nothing, and because through His Son by nature He became our Father by grace. “He who art in heaven” - because He rests among the saints, being holy, as it is written; Holier than us are the Angels who are in Heaven, and purer than the earth is Heaven. That is why God is primarily in Heaven. "Hallowed be Thy name." since You are holy, sanctify Your name in us, sanctify us too, so that we, having become Yours, can sanctify Your name, proclaim it as holy, glorify it in ourselves, and not blaspheme. "Thy kingdom come." Be our King for the sake of our good deeds, and not an enemy for our evil deeds. And may Your Kingdom come - the last day when You will accept the Kingdom over everyone (and over your enemies as well), and Your Kingdom will be forever, as it is. It awaits, however, those worthy and ready for that time. “Thy will be done as it is in heaven and earth.” Establish us as Angels, so that Your will may be fulfilled in us and by us, as in them; may it not be our passionate and human will, but Yours, impassive and holy. And just as You united the earthly with the Heavenly, so may the Heavenly be in us who are on earth. “Give us this day our daily bread.” Although we ask for Heavenly things, we are mortal and as people we ask for bread to support our existence, knowing that it is from You and that You alone have no need for anything, and we are bound by needs and place our boldness in You. By asking only for bread, we are not asking for what is superfluous, but for what is necessary for us for the present day, since we have been taught not to worry about tomorrow, because You care about us today, and you will care for us tomorrow and always. But give us this day our other daily bread – living, heavenly bread, the All-Holy Body of the living Word. Whoever does not eat this Bread will not “have life in him” (John 6:53). This is our daily bread, because it strengthens and sanctifies soul and body, and “whoever eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:51). “And forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors.” This petition expresses the whole meaning and the whole essence of the divine Gospel, for the Word of God came into the world in order to leave us our iniquities and sins, and, having become incarnate, did everything for this purpose: shed His Blood, bestowed the Sacraments for the remission of sins, and this commanded and laid down the law. “Forgive, and you will be forgiven,” says It (Luke 6:37). And to Peter’s question how many times a day he should be allowed to forgive someone who has sinned, he answers: “up to seventy times seventy times,” meaning: without counting (Matthew 18:22). In addition, the Word of God determines by this the success of the prayer itself, testifying that if the one praying forgives, then it will be forgiven to him, and if he leaves, then it will be forgiven to him, and will be forgiven to the extent that he forsakes (Luke 6:36-38) sins against his neighbor and the Creator, because the Master wants this. For we are all equal by nature and we are all slaves together, we all sin, by letting go a little, we receive a lot, and by giving forgiveness to people, we ourselves receive forgiveness from God. “And do not lead us into temptation,” because we have many tempters, full of envy and always hostile, and many temptations from demons, from people, from the body and from the carelessness of the soul. Everyone is subject to temptations: both those who strive and those who are careless about salvation, even more so the righteous, for their testing and exaltation. They need patience all the more because the spirit, although vigorous, is weak. There will also be a temptation if you despise your brother, if you seduce him, insult him, or show carelessness and carelessness about matters of piety. Therefore, no matter what we have sinned before God and our brother, we ask to have mercy on us, being merciful and releasing ourselves, and we ask not to lead us into temptation. Even if someone is righteous, let him not rely on himself, because one can be righteous only with humility, mercy and forgiving others of their sins. “But deliver us from the evil one,” because he is our implacable, tireless and frantic enemy, and we are weak before him, since he has the most subtle and vigilant nature - an evil enemy, inventing and weaving thousands of intrigues for us and always inventing dangers for us. And if You, the Creator and Lord of all things, the most evil one, the devil with his minions, the Angels, and us, do not snatch us from them, then who will be able to snatch us away? We do not have the strength to constantly confront this immaterial enemy, so envious, insidious and cunning. Deliver us from him Yourself. “For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, Amen.” And who will tempt and offend those under Your dominion, O God of all and Master, who rules over the Angels? Or who can resist Your power? - No one, for You created and preserve everyone. Or who can resist Your glory? Who dares? Or who can embrace her? Heaven and earth are filled with it, and it is higher than Heaven and Angels, because You are one - always existing and eternal. And Your glory, the Kingdom and power of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever, Amen, that is, truly, undoubtedly and truly. You are a mighty and glorified King forever. Here is a brief meaning of the sacred prayer “Our Father”. And every Orthodox Christian must certainly know it all and lift it up to God: rising from sleep, leaving home, going to the holy church of God, before and after eating food, in the evening and going to bed, for the Lord’s Prayer contains everything: confession of God, and praise, and humility, and confession of sins, and a prayer for the forgiveness of them, and the hope of future blessings, and asking for what is necessary, and renunciation of unnecessary things, and trust in God, and prayer that temptation would not overtake us and that we would be free from the devil, that we would do the will of God, be sons of God and be worthy of the Kingdom of God. That is why the Church prays this prayer many times day and night. So, we partially, as far as our strength allowed, spoke about this prayer. Let us conclude our discussions about Matins in Christ. 285. Why do we ask God for mercy in all prayers and before any prayer? After the Great Doxology or on ordinary days after the Trisagion and Our Father, the priest performs an intense prayer (litany), in which he first of all asks the merciful God for mercy, saying: “Have mercy on us, O God, according to Thy great mercy,” and so on. We should not ask for anything other than mercy, since it would be insolence on our part to point out to God anything of ours, to boast or to think that we have not sinned. Therefore, we, as sinners and condemned people, cannot or do not dare to say anything to our merciful Master except: “have mercy,” to Him, whom we have so much insulted and always insult, so that both the priest and the people have no choice but to cry: “have mercy.” The priest says: “Have mercy on us, O God, according to Your great mercy, we pray to You, hear and have mercy.” We are not worthy to be heard even when we cry out for mercy: but we pray to You, hear and have mercy. Saying: “We pray to You, hear,” the priest is a mediator between God and the people, and the people offer the prayer: “Lord, have mercy,” for the work of Your greatest love for mankind is to have mercy, and our work is to pray to You and cry out: “Have mercy.” For this reason, the priest, before any other prayer, says: “Let us pray to the Lord,” and those present, expressing that they are praying, cry out: “Lord, have mercy.” By this, in addition, they assist the priests: “the fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16). Do you see how the Church’s orders are imbued with humility and how it leads its children to the one God through repentance and humility? But we, brothers, do not think and do not feel what we say, we pronounce the words with just our lips, out of habit, and rush to throw off the work of prayer, like some kind of burden, and sometimes we don’t even say “have mercy” and have no thoughts about what is being said. We receive no mercy for this. Look why the Church asks for mercy at all prayers and before any prayer, and take note of this, brother, and every pious Christian. “I will note, holy lord, and, marveling at what was said, I greatly regret that we, having been granted such great gifts, do not feel them at all. - But may the Lord, who gave reason to man, enlighten us, strengthen us and have mercy on us! However, note that both at Vespers and at the sacred liturgy, despite our negligence, the Church does not cease to teach and encourage us, but says: “Recite everything with all our hearts and with all our thoughts,” and then continues that it follows the order of the liturgy. 286. What does “wisdom, let us hear” and “wisdom, forgive” mean? The words “recem all” and others serve as a reminder and instruction, as do the words wisdom, let us remember and wisdom, forgive. This means: stand in wisdom, since the words of God, now read, are wisdom and were spoken by the living Wisdom of God. And since the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, let us look and listen with wisdom and reverence, let us listen to ourselves in the feeling of the fear of God and stand upright in both souls and bodies, with wisdom and understanding, straight in faith and thoughts. Do you understand that in the Church even small things matter? - I understand and am amazed. Bishop: - Don't be surprised. The Church is the work of the hypostatic and living Wisdom of God, who in this Divine Body created a church for Herself and called insane people to knowledge. Therefore, in it even seemingly insignificant things are full of wisdom. And the more insignificant they seem, the more meaning they contain, since “the foolish things of God,” in the eyes of people, are in fact “wiser than men, and the weak things of God are stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25). The living wisdom of God is one and simple, but it contains the treasures of wisdom and reason. After the great litany there are petitions and a prayer of adoration, in which everyone bows their heads and stands in silence, which signifies the special reverence that we owe to God, and also means the expression of our slavery before God. The priest asks for Divine blessing, remission of voluntary and involuntary sins and the sending down of peaceful and supreme blessings from the one holy Lord, who abides in the highest with His Glory, but oversees everything, from the Lord, to whom we have bowed our souls and bodies. The priest straightens up, as if strengthened by the power of God, and together with the people, who also raised their heads, offering thanks, exclaims: “For it is yours to show mercy and save.” Then the dismissal takes place. At the same time, the priest again calls out: “wisdom”, in preparation for the next prayer after this, so that we are more attentive. What kind of prayer is this? “Blessed be our God always.” “He” - taken from the book of Moses, means the eternal and unchangeable existence of God and is said by God himself: “I am He... He who sent me” (Ex. 3:14–15). Then everyone calls on the most honorable Mother of God of the Angels as an Intercessor for us all before God after the priest says: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us,” and those present before them exclaim for the last time to offer praise to the Holy Trinity: “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” The priest concludes with a prayer, which, in fact, is called dismissal, since no one has the right to leave the divine chants and leave without the permission of the priest. Thus, the priest both begins the chants and concludes them, and seals the prayers. This seal is nothing other than the name of Him who came to us and for our sake in the flesh. So, having called on Christ himself, the true God, as His disciple John says: “This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20), calling on the prayers of His Holy Mother, from Whom He was incarnate, and all His saints (since His incarnation and the fact that He found Himself a Mother and the face of the saints who pleased Him is proof of His immeasurable goodness), the priest says: “he will have mercy and save us,” meaning that we ourselves cannot gain anything. If He became a man and the Mother and saints of God appeared among us, then we owe this to His love for mankind. Then we immediately pray for the departed - the church builders, our fathers and relatives in the flesh, and in general for those for whom we are obliged to do this. And we need to remember them, because from them we will be buried with them. And our Savior suffered and died both for the living and for the dead. Moreover, a lot of benefit flows from this both for those commemorated and for those commemorating. The actual commemoration occurs after the singing of the first hour. The doxology of the first hour is performed either immediately after Matins - on holidays, or together with Matins, and the dismissal occurs after, because, as we said earlier, the first hour consists of one hymn together with Matins. So, we say: “Come, let us worship our King Christ God” three times, because He is our one and eternal King and the only Lord by nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who plucked us from the darkness of death. Then three psalms are read in honor of the Trinity, once spoken by David in the morning hour and containing thanksgiving to God and a prayer that His Divine light may be shed on us, so that our deeds will be prosperous and we will leave all evil and be filled with all good. The psalms are followed by troparia that have the same meaning, one of them in honor of the Mother of God. In it, She, delighted by the Angel, is glorified like the sky, for from Her the Sun of Truth has risen; like paradise, because She brought forth the tree of life - Christ; and as a Virgin, for She remained a Virgin forever. And it is very appropriate to say this then, because at this time of matins the east is illuminated by the sun, and paradise is in the east. Then come the Trisagion and Our Father prayers, since it is impossible not to turn to them at any time. 289. Why is it necessary to proclaim “Lord, have mercy” forty times at every hour and at other successions? The prayer “Lord, have mercy” is read forty times to sanctify the entire time of our life, because forty days, as some say, constitute a tithe of three hundred and sixty-five days, and during the forty days there is Great Lent. “Lord, have mercy” is supposed to be exclaimed forty times and at every time of prayer - for the remission of our countless sins that we commit every day and hour. Therefore, after “Lord, have mercy,” we read the most appropriate prayer for any time, “for every time and for every hour.” It contains everything, extends to all of us: to our souls and bodies, with all our thoughts, thoughts and deeds. She prays to God to sanctify everything in us, to deliver us from every temptation, to protect and preserve us with holy Angels, to bring us to the understanding of the glory of God, and to allow us, as far as possible, to enjoy the unapproachable Light of God, and to bestow the grace of God, Who is blessed forever. Then we sing the praises of the Mother of God as the most honorable of the Seraphim, and the priest reads the prayer for the people given to Aaron, also expressed by David, “God, be gracious to us.” Then immediately follows the prayer prescribed for the first hour, “Christ, the true Light,” after which the priest makes the dismissal. 290. About the following hours: the third, sixth and ninth, together with the first Like the sequence of the first hour, the sequences of the third and sixth hours are sung along with various psalms and troparia that are usual in this case. Only at the third hour, after the priestly blessing, are the “Trisagion” and “Lord, have mercy” twelve times. The Trisagion occurs at the ninth hour, and at Compline, and at Matins, as a prayer primarily related to the Holy Trinity, as it is said. And “Lord, have mercy” is read twelve times in accordance with twelve hours of the day and twelve hours of the night, for our sanctification and cleansing from the falls that we make day and night. Why at every hour “Lord, have mercy” is read forty times, we have already said about this. 291. About the psalms of the third, sixth and ninth hours At each hour: the first, third, sixth and ninth - after “Come, let us worship”, repeated three times for the sake of the Holy Trinity, three psalms corresponding to the hour are placed in honor of the Trinity and to indicate the Sacrament that is meant at one or another hour. And just as the psalms of the first hour mentioned above speak of the Divine light from the sunrise, so the psalms of the third hour speak of the deceit of the Jews and their plan against Christ. However, the last of the psalms read, the fiftieth, speaks of the descent of the Divine Spirit. The psalms of the sixth hour indicate indignation among the Jews, their attempt on the life of the Lord and intrigues to kill Him. They point to their insults to Him, ridicule and curses, their rage and anger, the subsequent earthquake, the darkness that covered the earth, and so on, since the Jews crucified the Lord at the sixth hour. The last of the psalms of the sixth hour - “living in the help of the Most High” indicates help from the Father to the Son in His sorrow, and with the words “tread on the asp and basilisk” and others - to His victory over hell. The Psalms of the ninth hour point to our salvation accomplished through the death of Christ and the destruction of His holy church, and to the fact that He is the living God, although He died for us in the flesh, indicate that He was a sacrifice for us and the price of atonement for the living and those in hell, the place of mourning. They indicate that He acquired favor for the earth, that He returned us - our souls - from captivity, leaving our iniquities, and, having returned, revived us, and brought joy to His people with His Resurrection. Also, the psalms of the ninth hour say that He spoke peace and that thus “mercy and truth were revealed, righteousness came from heaven” (Ps. 84:11-12), since Christ destroyed death by death, and the earth gave its fruit - the Risen One in the flesh. The last psalm, “bow down, O Lord,” means all this, as well as the fact that He who was crucified and died for us is holy, sinless, generous, abundantly merciful, true, that He gave us and Himself, who became the Son of His servant, the Mother of God, power, strength and a sign for good - His Cross, by which His enemies were put to shame. Then troparia and so on are read and, finally, prayers corresponding in meaning to this hour. Vespers is celebrated like this. The so-called figurative ones are sung along with it and before it. And look how great and consistent with piety is the deanery and improvement of the Church. Frequent singing gives rise, after a certain period of time, to a certain laziness and lethargy, especially in the weakest souls. Our divine fathers, moved by the Divine Spirit, perfectly understanding this, made sure that, on the one hand, all the doxologies that came to us according to tradition were fulfilled, and on the other hand, they wisely eliminated pretexts for laziness and negligence. 292. That all observances, according to the order, are carried out in three periods of time: both in honor of the Trinity, and to prevent our laziness The Fathers also decreed that all successions should be carried out in three periods of time, unconditionally obliging us and necessarily urging us to them, in honor of our God, the all-essential Trinity. They decided to read three sequences between midnight and morning in honor and glory of the Trinity. This is the essence of the Midnight Office, Matins and the first hour, which constitutes a special sequence, but is combined with Matins and is not counted among the seven praises. In addition, after the third hour of the day, the third and sixth hours are sung, along with the succession of figurative ones, also representing a trinity of doxologies in honor of the Trinity, although the figurative rite does not belong to the number of seven praises. It is always sung at the sixth or ninth hour and forms a separate and special sequence. We'll say a little more about him. At the end of the day, the successions of the ninth hour, Vespers and Compline are performed, combined together, but special and sung one after the other at the same time. And they also point to the Trinity. Since there are three times of the day, there are three chants at each time. In this, the Church imitates the great Daniel, who prayed to God three times every day, as it is written in His visions. In performing three successions in each of the three times, the Church has in mind nine ranks, constituting three trinities in number and silently praising God. 293. About the consistency of the so-called pictorial The pictorial sequence is so called because it depicts in some way the sacred liturgy if it is sung without the liturgy; if it is performed during the liturgy, it always precedes it. In this sequence, two psalms are first sung, containing praise to God and reminding us of the benefits He has given us, especially through the incarnation The words: “Bless the Lord, my soul,” and “praise the Lord, my soul.” Then - the song of the incarnation, “The Only Begotten Son.” 294. Brief interpretation of the Savior’s beatitudes The beatitudes of the Savior depict us as the only blessed Lord, who truly became poor for our sake, who set an example of meekness and humility of heart, the only righteous one, who hungered and thirsted for righteousness and did it, merciful and generous. They show Him as the only pure in heart, holy and undefiled, the Peacemaker and the Head of the world and the World itself, they show the Savior as the Son of God by nature, truly persecuted for the sake of righteousness, innocently reviled, persecuted and dishonored, suffering for us for the glory of His Father and for the sake of our salvation, having unspeakable joy and gladness. On the other hand, these beatitudes indicate that those who imitate the Savior receive them from Him. They attain the beatitudes in the order He spoke them. That is: having first become poor for the sake of Christ, only then they become meek; in the same way, having appeared meek and dispassionate, they hunger for righteousness; from truth they pass to mercy; from mercy - to purity of soul; from purity of soul - to love for one's neighbor and caring for his world. Then they are raised to the most perfect love, love for God, and, zealous for His truth and righteousness, they endure persecution, suffer even more, are reproached and driven out for piety and faith, endure slander for the name of the Lord and, suffering, rejoice. And they will rejoice and leap then, because their reward is great in heaven (Luke 6:23). So, these beatitudes are read as the teaching of the Savior and the Gospel and instead of passages from the Apostle and the Divine Gospel. Then they sing three times about the words of the thief to the Lord, spoken on the cross, about his prayer, through which he found paradise, referring his cry to the Trinity and asking Her for paradise. Next they read what is read by everyone outside the altar and at the liturgy - the trinitarian doxology of the Angels: “Holy, Holy, Holy”, then the “Creed”, a prayer for the forgiveness of all sins for us, a prayer given by the Savior, followed by troparia in accordance with the day, forty times “Lord, have mercy”, according to the order of succession. After this there are psalms of thanksgiving for all the gifts of God and for food necessities: “I will bless the Lord” and “I will exalt you, my God.” Meanwhile, the antidoron is distributed for our consecration, and then the dismissal is done. 295. About Vespers and the fact that mainly three services begin at the altar and end at it: Matins, Divine Liturgy and Vespers Vespers, like Matins, is celebrated more solemnly and more important, since three times during the day the three doxologies of the Holy Trinity are offered for Her confession and glorification, as we have just said. They begin at the throne, at the throne with the priest and end. This is Matins, the sacrament of the sacraments - the sacred liturgy and vespers. Therefore, each of the believers must listen to the mentioned hymns every day and, if possible, take care of others. So, when the priest blesses at the throne, as if standing in Heaven before the face of God, then “Come, let us worship” is read three times by one reader - for the sake of reverence and better assimilation of what is being read. If the day is simple, the entire psalm is read, in which the Lord is blessed, His entire creation is told, and thanksgiving is offered to Him for everything, since at the end of the day one should give thanks for everything. If the day is a holiday, then it is read until the words I open Your hand and then solemnly sung by everyone, and after each verse everyone glorifies the Trinity, which is the Creator of everything. When the priest reads the peaceful petitions and makes an exclamation, then other psalms of the Psalter are added, as is required at Matins, if the day is simple, so that in this way the book of Psalms, distributed for singing, ends all in a week, and on Lent it is read twice, for the glory of God, for the propitiation of God for us and for our greater tenderness. 296. That the first three psalms of the Psalter relate primarily to the Lord If the day is a holiday, then after the Trinity and a short litany the first three psalms of the Psalter are sung, which relate primarily to the Lord. For the Word of God made man was Himself truly the only blessed Man and did not create sin. It is the Tree of Life and has given much fruit to us who have believed in Him. It will come to life without fading, like something immortal. It will not reject us as having an evergreen leaf and fruit, but will scatter the wicked and demons like dust. It, when kings and princes rebelled against Him, defeated them, laughed at them and became the King of His Church. The Word of God made man is the Son of God and has the nations as His inheritance, contains the ends of the earth and is a strong Shepherd. Those who hated Him, slandered and persecuted Him multiplied - those who killed Him on the Cross. But suffering in the flesh, but being impassive in Divinity, the Son of God was with the Father and appeared as our help and glory, and if he died in death, he arose as if from a dream. That is why it is said: “Salvation comes from the Lord, and on your people, on us who believe, through the Cross, is your blessing” (Ps. 3:8-9). After these psalms, when the priest gives the usual thanksgiving and pronounces the corporate litany (συναπτών), or peaceful petitions, and makes an exclamation to the glory of the Trinity, then they sing “Lord, I cried” with the psalms connected with it, welcoming the evening and sending up to God, as it were, mental incense. Meanwhile, they actually bring incense to Him, starting from the throne and filling the entire church with it for the glory of God for our sanctification, and also because from the glorified God we receive Divine grace. Here it would be appropriate to talk, as far as possible, about the so-called peaceful petitions, or the aggregate and small litanies, as well as the special litany and other petitions. Since they are read by the priest or deacon at every time of service and during the sacred liturgy, we need, if possible, to have an understanding of them and not look at them with indifference. First, we will talk about why peace petitions are called a corporate litany. This is because in it, first of all, we ask God for peace with Him and between ourselves, moreover, a prayer is made for all of us together. Having blessed God, since one should first of all proclaim and praise Him as the author of everything and the giver of every good, the priest immediately says: “Let us pray to the Lord in peace.” These words teach us to have peace with God in right faith and conscience, for this is peace with God and peace with everyone, and they teach us to stand without anger and doubt, as Paul says, “lifting up clean hands” (1 Tim. 2:8), and as the Savior says: “When you stand in prayer, forgive, if you have anything against anyone” (Mark 11:25), and also: “Peace I leave with you” (John. 14:27), and: “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36). Peace must be first of all in us (John 14:27), and in peace we must pray, which is why the priest at the very beginning proclaims: “Let us pray to the Lord in peace,” as if saying: if you do not let go, then your Father will not forgive you your sins. Then, since true peace comes from God, who forgives us our sins and gives us salvation through His mercy, the priest adds: “about the peace from above and the salvation of our souls.” Then he prays for general peace and speaks about the peace of the whole world, since peace comes from God when we are completely ready to receive it. You see how great a thing peace is: for its sake God descended! And further: “about the welfare of God’s holy churches.” And this is also for peace in faith and for church life, as well as the following: “and the unification of all” in right faith, love and a godly life. Then he remembers “the holy church and those who enter it,” for the sake of a unanimous and reverent meeting in it, and offering (part of) what we receive from God. Then he remembers the bishop as the source of the priesthood and all Christianity; “presbytery” as concelebrating at the holy Sacraments; “in the diaconate in Christ” as the ministers of the Sacrament; “about the whole clergy” as Christians of every order serving Him in hymns; “and about the people,” since they are faithful, and are united with the priests by faith and life, and are sanctified through them. Do you see why the litany is called cumulative (συναπτή)? She brings everyone together into one whole, just as the Savior prayed. The Church united kings, rulers, and the army with people. However, in view of the fact that these latter strive for the common good, they are mentioned separately, if only they are Orthodox. The Church, strictly preserving the law of Paul, prays for kings and authorities, and especially now, when they are faithful, and that God would fight with them and subdue their enemies, so that we too would lead a quiet and serene life, keeping our piety in purity. Since we need protection and rulers to protect us, we pray for the city that protects us and for every country, for we live not only in cities, but also in villages. Moreover, due to the fact that the purpose of cities is the living themselves, the Church also speaks about those living in them by faith (that is, one should not pray for the wicked). Since, again, the well-being of cities requires the health of the people living in them, who, like us ourselves, are from God, the Church speaks “about the goodness of the air” for the health of bodies, “about the abundance of the fruits of the earth” for their consumption as food, “and times of peace” so that they are conducive to life, our benefit and community, for disturbances are accompanied by shyness and destruction. Again, the living have a lot of accidents and different types of life, needs and circumstances, therefore, praying for everyone in general, the Church speaks “about those who swim,” meaning those who are at sea; “about travelers,” that is, traveling on land; “those who are ill,” no matter who is overcome by illness, “those suffering,” “toiling and captives,” that is, those in slavery; - and gathering everyone, he prays for their salvation. Do you see that the Church imitates God and provides for everyone? Do you understand how she connects everything and prays for everyone? That is why prayer itself is called corporate. Then, calling everyone to pray for everyone and, according to the apostolic commandment, commanding them to pray for each other before Him who can give everything, the Church turns to the Lord and loudly says: “Intercede,” for You are the only Intercessor for us, weak and perishing; “save,” for You are the only Savior of the needy and desperate; “have mercy,” for we cannot do anything for You if You, the Merciful, do not have mercy on us; “and save”, for there are many who attack and oppress. You alone can preserve “us, O God, by Your grace” - not by our deeds and not by our prayer, for we are unclean and everything we do is unclean, but by Your goodness alone. A special gift is the incarnation of the Only Begotten, which is called grace. Having won God over to mercy with this prayer, which is said either by the priest himself or by the deacon, as well as by secret prayer inside the altar, the priest commands us to surrender ourselves to God as an offering to Him. Understand the saving power and wonder of prayer. The priest says: “Most Holy, Most Pure” and so on (adding praise to the All-Sung Mother of God, as appropriate) “remembering with all the saints.” She is the leader of the saints, the guide of sanctification, the common mediator and the Divine instrument, through which we are saved with all who are sanctified through Her, as one with us by nature and who care for us, and are able to care for us, since they labored for the glory of God. Together with them, says the priest, “remembering” (instead of: calling or remembering the saints who remember us), “ourselves”, as obligated to betray themselves to God, “and each other”, as having accepted the commandment of mutual love, “and our whole life”, as given from God (that is, everything: our thoughts, and our words, and deeds, and souls, and bodies) “We will surrender to Christ our God.” He became a sacrifice for us - let us offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice; He gave Himself to us - let us give ourselves to Him completely and have confidence in the One who laid down His soul for us and gave Himself as food for us, who provides for us and loves us, in the One who always cares and saves and who alone is the Savior. For without Him it is impossible to live, think, or do anything at all. No one can snatch the one who has given himself up to Him from the hands of His Father. And the hands are He Himself—His muscle, and the Holy Spirit. This is the greatest and most perfect of all benefits from this prayer to people approaching Him! Therefore, during other prayers those present cry only: “Lord, have mercy,” calling on God’s mercy, but here they say: “To You, Lord,” that is, we commit ourselves to You, Christ our God. This devotion is very necessary to confess in words, because it expresses our right faith in Christ, and by faith in Him, our very offering. Faith connects us with God and attracts His help; it connects us with the Most Holy Mother of the Word and with the saints, and makes their mediation effective for us. And it is also very necessary for us to justify our faith by works. To justify by works means the right to believe, and to live and practice prayers as a Christian, in true purity and justice. For, as we ascend to God, we become more perfect, we are sanctified by the Sacraments, dedicated to Him by confession and, as those devoted to Christ and redeemed by Him, we undertake to do nothing else except the works of Christ. For the sake of this devotion, all the saints are remembered, and the Savior, entering the path of suffering, Himself was the first to create tradition, entrusting us to the Father and saying: “Keep them in Thy name, sanctify them in Thy truth,” etc.; and the truth is He. Having completed this prayer, the priest seals it with his voice and pronounces the doxology of the Trinity: “as it behooves You,” affirming with theology and doxology all of the above, and testifying that this will come to us from God. Then troparia and self-accordances are sung, called stichera, on a week (κυριακή) included in the number of ten verses for the sake of the perfection of this number, and on the feasts of the saints - in the number of eight for the sake of the eighth endless day, on which the saints will always abide with God, as they already now abide with Christ in the Spirit. On ordinary days - in the number six for the sake of the fact that the saints are now in Heaven above the five senses, and also in honor of the Trinity, to which the number six is ​​referred to as double. On weeks, or on other holidays and saints' days, stichera are sung by both faces alternately. At the last verse, the faces come together, showing the agreement and unity accomplished by the Savior of the whole world. Then, bowing together before the altar, they cry out: “For His mercy is established upon us” (Ps. 116:2), which indicates the salvation of the tongues done by Christ and the fact that, by His mercy, He suffered for us, and by His Cross, establishing His power, and having won, He brought us to Himself. And after that they sing again: “Glory, even now,” inseparably glorifying the indivisible Trinity. In conclusion, the Virgin Mary is called the Mother of God for the sake of Her many and strong mediation, and also in order to confess the incarnation of the One Incarnate from Her. 297. What do the evening entrance mean, the bowing of the priest and the raising of his head, as well as the ascent to the altar and entrance Then the priest makes his entrance: he comes out of the altar uncovered with censer and incense, bows in the middle of the church and prays, then gets up, makes the sign of the cross with his hand and censer with incense, and again returns to the altar. What does he express by this? The fact that the Only Begotten Son of God, having descended to us from the Heavenly circles, ascended again and took us to Heaven. Therefore, by this descent, and by bowing the head, and by raising it, and by proclaiming wisdom, forgive, and by cruciform incense, and by raising the Gospel above the head (if this is an entrance with the Gospel), and by ascending to the throne - with all this the priest symbolizes the works of housebuilding. Namely: the exodus and descent of the priest signify the descent of Christ and His humiliation; priestly clothing - incarnation; standing in the middle with his head bowed means that the Savior was crucified for us in the middle of the earth, and died, and descended into hell. That is why the priest prays silently and bowing, because Christ, having betrayed Himself to the Father, descended into hell and snatched us from there; This is why incense is carried, because it depicts the truly fragrant soul and life of the Savior. And he holds the Gospel as if it were the Lord Himself. That is why he bows down with him, because the Lord descended, and therefore he rises up, because Christ has risen and raised us up together. And the reverse ascension and procession to the altar means that Christ was taken from the earth and with the flesh He assumed, ascended to where He was, and sacrificing Himself for us, exalted and sanctified us. So the whole entrance signifies all of this. And this is very necessary for us to know first of all and always, and we must always remember this, for thanks to this we are saved, because God came to us. 298. Why is the evening entrance more solemn on Saturday and other Lord’s holidays, and on the feasts of saints? The evening entrance signifies the descent of God at the end of the ages. That is why it is celebrated mainly on Saturdays, marking the descent into hell and the Resurrection; and on holidays, since the One who Descended performed the celebrated sacrament; and in the remembrance of the saints, since, having ascended to Heaven, He lifted up their souls, and now they are with Him, and He will resurrect their bodies so that He can always have them with Him in the fullness of their personalities. 299. What does morning entrance mean? The morning entrance to the Great Church means both what has just been said, and especially the descent of Christ into hell with his soul, and the Resurrection of His flesh, and the angelic sermon about His uprising. That is why at Matins, standing on the pulpit, as if on a stone, the priest, like an Angel, or, better to say, like a real Angel, preaches the good news of the Resurrection. 300. About the fact that in monasteries, on the day of the week, the morning entrance is performed in the image of the Resurrection This same entrance in the monasteries occurs before the singing of the canons and the reading of the Divine Gospel, called the morning Gospel, since it teaches about the events of the Resurrection of Christ, which took place in the morning, before dawn. The priest comes out of the holy altar, as if from a burial cave, and from the tomb - the holy meal, holding the Gospel, like an Angel preaching about Christ. Then everyone comes up and worships, like disciples of Christ and myrrh-bearing women, and kisses the Gospel, and then sings the song of the Resurrection of Christ, having seen it. So, this happens in the morning. Wanting to talk about the entrance here, we remembered what was said. During the evening entrance, when the sacred, ancient and adapted to the evening entrance hymn “Quiet Light” is sung, which, according to legend, was composed by the holy martyr Athenogenes and which clearly preaches both the Trinity and the incarnation of the Word, the deacon says: “wisdom,” and the bishop, sitting down, teaches peace, because Christ left it to us before the Passion and gave it to us after the Resurrection, and having ascended to Heaven, he continually sends down. 301.What do daytime prokeimnas mean? And immediately the prokeimenon is sung loudly. And the prokeimenon is a prophecy related to the holiday, a word of the psalm that explains the meaning of the day. On Saturday evening, the prokeimenon testifies to the Resurrection, so then “The Lord reigns” is sung, since the Risen One won the victory and reigned over death, and clothed our nature in the splendor of incorruptibility, and by the Resurrection established the universe that believed in Him. On the week of Vespers, “behold now bless the Lord” (Ps. 133:1), for the sake of the Angels who continually bless Him and the souls of His servants. On the second day at Vespers (the Church) he says: “Lord, hear me, always call upon Him” (Ps. 140:1), so that both the preacher of repentance, the Forerunner, and the faithful call upon Him in repentance. On the third day at Vespers, the Church says: “Your mercy, O Lord, will marry me all the days of my life” (Ps. 22:6), for the sake of help from the saving Passion and mercy shown to us through the Cross. At Vespers on the fourth day, we remember the apostles, saying: “O God, in Thy name save me” (Ps. 53:3), for through them, in the name of the Lord, our salvation was accomplished, since they preached the gospel and, appearing as divine preachers, saved us, according to the word of Scripture: “I work with the Lord and confirm the word” (Mark 16:20). On the fifth day, at Vespers, we anticipate the great help of the Cross, for He Himself who created heaven and earth helped us, being nailed to the Cross in the flesh: “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:2) On Friday (the sixth day) at Vespers we cry: “O God, art my protector” (Ps. 59:10), for the sake of the host of saints, gathered by the intercession of Him who died for us and raised up both us and the souls of the faithful who had gone before. For God was the intercession of the saints, and to those who have departed He Himself is mercy, promoting salvation. During the days of fasting, instead of the prokemne, “Hallelujah” is placed, which already means the praise of God and the coming of God, and the Lord is Coming is sung, announcing the good news of His First and Second Coming and foreshadowing the events of His suffering and rebellion, namely: that the Lord is coming to suffer for us and to rise again, and that in the end He will come again to judge the whole earth. And this praise and singing is so that, having concern for ourselves, and being sick about our sins, and accepting the Lord, we would be cleansed and not rush to triumph or celebrate, but with contrition we would cry out to God, and, praising Him, we would call and accept His coming. On the contrary, prokemenyas are sung as parting words preceding the holidays and the coming days. 302. About the special litany and prayers of petition, as an absolutely necessary matter After this, the priest performs a special litany and offers petitions. In the litany, he prays for mercy for everyone, such as: for the faithful kings, for the local hierarch, for the head of the monastery, for the trustees of the church, for the upcoming Orthodox and faithful everywhere. And he sends petitions to: • spend the whole evening and the whole night or day - if we ask at Matins - sinlessly and peacefully; • to have an Angel of peace, guardian of soul and body; • to receive forgiveness and remission of sins; • so that the best and most useful may be given to us, and peace to the world; • so that we can spend the rest of our lives in repentance and peace; • so that, as befits Christians, the end of our life will be faithful, holy and serene, and so that we may be well-responsible when Christ comes; • so that through the Mother of God, who can do everything, and through all the saints who, through their labors and deeds, have acquired boldness, we surrender ourselves to Christ God (since we are indebted to Him, having received our existence from Him), and each other (since we are obliged to be useful to our neighbors, as Scripture says: “love... God... and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27)), and our whole life betrayed to Him, since He was given to us by God. We then confirm this with words, saying: “To you, Lord,” that is, we betray ourselves; but they must fulfill what is said in practice, for he who has given himself up to God must be under the authority of the One to whom he surrenders, in order to be rich in His protection and rest under His Providence. You see: these petitions ask us a lot and bring great benefits to souls. And we know some of the holy men who seemed to limit themselves to such petitions, and thus prayed with all their souls, and devoted themselves to God, while others, due to the insensibility of their souls, do not listen to these words. Then the priest, in an exclamation, according to custom, glorifies the Trinity and, having asked for peace to all, and shouted about bowing heads, in the image of an enslaved and prayerful spirit, he himself is the first to bow, confessing himself to be a humble servant, and praying for his priesthood, because, having a need for mercy, he does not rely on himself. He prays reverently and, starting to talk with God and intercede for others, silently concentrates in himself: “Lord God (our), who bowed the Heavens and came down for the salvation of men: we offer not ours, but the work of your love and your humiliation. Look upon Your inheritance, for men have bowed their heads not to men, but to You, asking for salvation from You. Preserve them at all times, even in the present, from every mental and sensory opponent.” Then, having received boldness, as if he had been heard, he rises up and proclaims praise. “Blessed be the power of Your kingdom,” and so on; one can also: “You are the only glorified and blessed King,” or: “and you can do all things,” and immediately performs the litia. 303. About litia in the vestibule and about other prayers outside the church The external litiya, in the narthex, is performed on Saturdays and holidays, as well as during any disaster or unfortunate circumstance that has befallen us, with a large gathering of people, in the middle of the city or outside its walls. And litany is a prayer before God and a public petition, brought out of a feeling of heartfelt affection and gratitude for the benefits given. Therefore, it happens outside the church, indicating our falling away from paradise and the imprisonment of Heaven itself for us. While performing litia, we pass through the city with lamentable cries - and this shows that both the city itself and everything in it are desecrated by our sins. And the fact that we go out of the city to cry out and perform a litany - by this we express our humiliation, considering ourselves unworthy to cry out to God in the city that we desecrated by inhabiting it, and that through crime we are, as it were, taken out of the divine fatherland. In this city, where we were created, moreover, recreated and awarded gifts from God, we, seduced by the serpent, were insanely corrupted and turned ourselves into nothing, desecrated a sacred place and, leaving God’s supervision, we wander in unguarded places. So, in the vestibule we perform litia because the Savior has descended down to the limits of our insignificance, and we perform it in order to appease Him in this same place. Here we pray, standing before the gates of Heaven (for we are unworthy to look directly at the heights of Heaven, if, upon returning, we do not cry: “we have sinned”), until He Himself, having come to us and having met us, graciously calls us to Himself. Thus, this prayer before the gates and this prayer of the priest is a sign of our desire for Eden and Heaven to be opened to us, especially God’s benevolence, which we have deprived ourselves of. Therefore, when we stand outside the church, the usual psalms are sung, and the priest makes the prescribed prayers for all people and for the inheritance of God, in order for this inheritance to be saved and for the horn of Christians to be exalted. “Save, O Lord, Thy people” and so on - he cries out and, while the general prayer “Lord, have mercy” is sung, he again sends up petitions for kings, as those who stand before the pious and strive for the faithful, for the local bishop or rector, for every Christian soul, for the world of churches, for the faithful who have previously departed, for the deliverance of the captives and the strengthening of the weak, for those who labor in Christ and about all the brothers together. And “Lord, have mercy” during this midnight and strong prayer is sung according to the rite more often, and finally, it is pronounced three times - for the glory of the Trinity, since the prayer is sent to Her. 304. About the last prayer at litia The priest prays to the good and humane God to hear everyone, to be merciful and beneficent to everyone, and to send His mercy to everyone. Then he says that those praying should humbly and servilely bow their heads, and, turning to the west, like a clergyman asking God for the blessings of those who bow down, he calls on the many-merciful Lord and God of our Christ. At the same time, trusting in the intercession and mediation of the Holy Virgin Mother of God, as well as the Angels and Apostles, the holy martyrs and hierarchs, and together all the saints, he asks that for their sake, and not for our sake, our prayer be favorable, that we be granted remission of sins, so that we may be covered from them by His wings. He asks that our enemies be removed from us, that our lives be pacified, that the world and we be pardoned and saved by Him, the philanthropic and good One, since for the sake of one goodness He became man and is the only merciful one. 305. Why are lamps carried before the priest? Having completed this, the priest, preceded by lamps, which before, as during the entire entrance, were carried in front of him, goes through the royal doors and, as it were, enters Heaven. This is done in the image of the Divine light, and the saints, and the presiding Father. The primate, led by him, is followed by others, walking as if following Jesus Christ. And both faces, united into one and standing in the middle, as a sign that Heaven has opened to us and through Christ the Angels have come into unity with us, sing stichera in verse. And the verses sung at the same time are timed to coincide with the holiday: if there is a week (κυριακή), then Sunday verses are sung: “The Lord reigns” (Ps. 92:1); if it is a different holiday, then they adapt to it in the same way as self-vocal stichera. If it is the day of any saints, then according to the rules, verses and stichera from the psalms suitable for the occasion are taken: either of a saint, or a martyr, or a saint. That is why they are called stichera, because outside the church, at litia, stichera without verses are sung, and these are therefore called “at stichera.” Then they sing self-congratulations on “glory” and “now.” The first is borrowed from a holiday or from the day of one of the saints, and the last is the Theotokos, for the sake of the most effective prayer of the Mother of God for us. And immediately follows “Now let us go” - the prayer that righteous Simeon reverently sang, perceiving God. This one, seeing God’s salvation, asks for the release of the soul from the flesh, and we must ask for the release of the soul from passions, from the temptations of the enemy and serious illnesses of the soul and body. It is not surprising, however, to pray for renunciation from the flesh, so that this renunciation, if it pleases God, would be granted to us in a peaceful and saving way. The said prayer also foreshadows the end of the work of hymns, and also points to the light of grace, which gives us salvation and glory. And then the prayer “Trisagion” and “Our Father” follow, like the Divine seal. When the priest praises the Kingdom of God, the troparion of the holiday is sung, with the song of conception: “Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice, blessed Mary.” This is the voice of the Archangel at the Divine Conception of the Virgin. And since this beginning of the saving economy took place in a week, which is why it is called Sunday, the Archangel’s greeting is read especially on weekly vigils and on the feasts of saints, excluding only sovereign feasts, because the Virgin Mother of God is the Leader of all saints and sanctification to the saints through Her virgin Fruit. 306. About the so-called blessing of the loaves Then another sacred rite is performed, taught from above by the Savior Himself. At a certain meal there are five loaves of bread and in vessels suitable for the celebration - a little wheat, wine and oil. The priest censes all this in the shape of a cross, walking around while singing “Virgin Mother of God,” censes not as something holy, but as something that must be sanctified, or, better said, consecrated by the cross and incense. Then, having stopped censing, he bows his head and, having given the censer, stands before the meal. Imitating the Savior whom he portrays and calling upon Him, he takes one of the loaves. And while the deacon says: “Let us pray to the Lord,” the priest exclaims: “Lord Jesus Christ our God, who blessed the five loaves and fed the five thousand, bless these loaves also,” and saying this, with one loaf he makes the sign of the cross over the other four loaves, which shows that Christ did the same, taking five loaves into His hands in a similar way. Then, having laid down the bread, he blesses them with his hand in a cross shape and testifies that Christ blesses them, as well as wheat, wine and oil, and, sealing this as well, says: “there will be an increase in this holy monastery and throughout Your whole world,” for the Lord Himself, opening His hand, as it is written, “fulfills every living good will.” The priest concludes this prayer with the appropriate doxology: “For You art the blessing and sanctifier of all things,” and glorifies the Bread of Life with the Father and the Spirit. Then thanksgiving is pronounced on behalf of everyone, as Job says: “Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Ps. 113:2), and: “I will bless the Lord” (Ps. 33) - the most appropriate psalm spoken by David to God for the provision of necessary food. Having sealed everyone in this way and having asked everyone for the blessing of God, Who is true food and drink (while sensual food does not put us before the face of God) and Who is the giver of every good, the priest leaves without making a release. For while the prescribed reading is being completed, Matins begins. Bread and wine, as consecrated with a blessing, are distributed to those present, who accept them with faith that gifts, healings, and many other gifts flow from them. This is done if there is an all-night vigil. If not, then after bowing the heads there is neither litia nor blessing of the loaves. Only verses are sung and “now let us go,” the “Trisagion” prayer and dismissal are read. For other zealous people, if ever due to weakness or lack of brethren there is no vigil, the lithium is celebrated at Vespers; then the verses are sung and immediately dismissal. But the blessing of the loaves in this case does not happen, because it is combined exclusively with the work of vigil, so that the brethren, having received both the blessing of Christ and a little consolation for the sake of work, maintain the necessary prayerful attention to the terrible secrets of communion, and especially the sanctified ones. So, we have covered Vespers, it remains to say about Compline. Let's talk about it briefly. “Fulfill, holy lord, your bribe for this too, so that all your teaching will be completed for us.” 307. About the succession of Compline - Compline in the great monasteries is sung, as we said, together with Vespers before the gates of the church, as general prayers, and in the monasteries and at each of the monks, lay priests and pious laity - after the evening meal. On Holy Pentecost they sing both in the great monasteries and in all especially, after Vespers and the meal, which then happens once a day. So, the Complines of the Holy Pentecost, also called the great, are divided into three parts, in the image of the Holy Trinity and as propitiation for us. This is also evident from the charter, and therefore there is no need to talk in detail, especially since we have explained almost all the prayers. At Compline, psalms and prayers of contrition and confession are read, for the forgiveness of sins and for merciful pardon, for passing the night peacefully, dreamlessly, undefiled and undisturbed, prayers for an easy uprising to tender and heartfelt prayer during Midnight Office and Matins. We won’t say much, but to put it briefly – these are not three sequences, but one, read daily. His psalms, which are very appropriate for Great Compline, have the same meaning. Three psalms are read for the sake of the Trinity, then the most holy “Creed” for the sake of confession of piety, and “it is worthy to eat” for the sake of the incarnation of the Word and the intercession of the Mother of God. After the “Symbol,” as we received from our fathers, we call on the Mother of God, the Angels and the saints to intercede for us, which also happens at Great Compline. And it is very necessary to call upon intermediaries and helpers close to God. This is followed by the Trisagion prayer, as the beginning, middle and end of the songs. Then - “Lord, have mercy” forty times to sanctify the times and days of our lives. After which a prayer of gratitude is offered to the Mother of God, undefiled and incorruptible. This is a prayer about everything: about the present, and about the end of our life, and about future blessings. And again, according to custom, we call upon Her, the most honorable of the Cherubim, so that we may be protected by the shelter of Her wings. This is followed by the usual prayer of the priest, may God have mercy on us, and thus the last prayer is said, “And grant us, O Master, sleep to come.” Or, after “Lord, have mercy” - “And for all time”, “Most honorable” and “God, be merciful to us.” Then the prayer to the Mother of God “Undefiled”, and with it “And give to us, Master.” This is a common rank for everyone. 308. On what should be preserved by general statutes Others, out of zeal, sing something else, however, not in a general meeting, but separately, because the general rules of necessity must be observed purely, unclouded and without temptation. It happens that especially zealous people take upon themselves the courage to sing some paternal canon - in their cells, or privately with their disciples, or with brethren who compete with someone. And this is done with the approval and advice of the fathers, for salvation, as we know, comes from much advice. If, for the sake of heartfelt contrition, the canons are also sung at Compline, then know that the great Canon is being sung; and at Vespers, some in holy monasteries sing canons to the Mother of God; Many people follow the Akathist every evening. Every diligent and toiling person, according to his work, will receive a great reward. This, however, depends on the desire and readiness of everyone. But no one should transgress what has been clearly decreed without extreme necessity and weakness. Yes, even the weak have prayer in their minds, the most necessary of all prayers, and for those who are constrained by circumstances and necessity, calling on God and prayer are all the more useful, for who, besides God, will pull us out of distress? “All human salvation is in vain. In God we will create strength; He will call to Me, and I will hear him” (Ps. 59:13-14 Ps. 90:15), and Scripture says something similar to this. But there are those who add special things to the general regulations and always unite the soul with God, and crush the body with abstinence and fasting, vigils, lying on the ground and nakedness, many inconveniences and with frequent genuflections - these will be numbered among the martyrs. And they, as far as possible and appropriately, should be imitated, so that for our small work, we, by the grace of God, will be numbered among them. For if, not having the strength to do everything, we learn through imitation the smallest and least important of all, then God will either give the zealous strength for everything, as in the original this word is not printed because their strength is from God, or, according to condescension to weakness, he will have mercy even for a small deed, and will deign to count us among the first. Such is the Master: being good, He only looks for a reason on our part and, doing everything Himself, saves us and, as the most good, counts us among His slaves. So, what we said constitutes the Jerusalem statute. 309. The beginning of the decrees and orders of the so-called song sequence Let's look at the especially expressive decrees of Christ's economy in the well-called song sequence, which, as we said, was handed down to us from ancient times from the fathers. All the Catholic Churches of the world, from their beginning, performed this sequence in song and did not utter anything but songs, excluding the prayers of the priest and the petitions of the deacons, especially the Great Churches - Constantinople, Antioch and Thessalonica. Now it remains for us to pay attention to how this following was carried out in one holy church of God's Wisdom. You need to have the following concept about this succession. At vespers, it was formerly the custom for the ministers to fill the church with incense before following - to the glory of God and to depict the Divine Glory, which once filled the tabernacle, so that Moses and Aaron could not enter it until the Glory of God rose to the top. The same thing happened in the Temple of Solomon, when because of the Glory of God that filled the church, the priests could not stand and serve before the Lord until that cloud became invisible. And at Matins, in a similar way, they first filled the church with smoke from incense. 311. What does incense mean, spread in silence before Vespers and Matins? Nowadays this does not happen, unless the deacon or priest at the liturgy, after the proskomedia, silently burns incense on the altar, or the entire church, in the image of that Glory. But this happens in monasteries before Great Vespers, when the priest marks the Divine Glory and grace poured out through the Angel, and when the house of the Lord is filled with His Glory. So, at the song vespers, the priest, standing before the holy meal, as if in Heaven before the Throne of God, blesses God in the Trinity, not saying: “Blessed is God,” for this is not accepted in the rite of song (since this relates only to the Old Testament Scripture), but proclaiming, as in the holy liturgy: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit always,” that is, theologizing about the unity of the Kingdom and nature and the trinity of God, and this is the preaching of grace, recognition and confession of the One God in the Trinity. And teaching peace from the Lord and teaching everyone to ask for it, the priest immediately begins the great litany. You need to know that one sequence of the liturgy remained completely faithful to the ancient rite. Therefore, the priest blesses God, and immediately pronounces the great litany, and three antiphons are sung in the image of the Trinity, which refers to the ancient sequence, already explained. Hearing the singing of the three antiphons and then the Trisagion, some, out of ignorance of vespers, think that this is a liturgy. The people of Constantinople are especially surprised at this now, having accepted this tradition from antiquity, not knowing that these are wonderful customs left over from the persecution of the Latins, and that this tradition also includes the sacred and ancient service and rite of the Third Sixth (τριτοεκτης) during fasting, and the service of the so-called all-night vigil that once was every evening, and especially on the holy great Pentecost, on its first and great week. Of these services, prayers written in the form of a requiem are necessary, as well as, in accordance with ancient tradition, the prayers of the third part, adopted in the image of the clock and called after them, and likewise in the image of the holy liturgy. We will soon talk briefly about these services, and now we will talk about Vespers. When the priest blesses and pronounces all the peaceful petitions and “intercede, save, have mercy,” then the singers immediately sing: “hear me,” and “glory to Thee, O God.” The last song is a very important one, containing both prayer and praise to God. Then from the psalm: “Incline, O Lord, Thy ear and hear me” (Ps. 85:1), also the doxology of the Angels: “Glory to God in the highest,” “fill heaven and earth with Thy glory,” and: “blessed is the glory of the Lord.” Then the priest says: “Most Holy, Most Pure,” and loudly praises God in the Trinity, saying: “For all glory, honor and worship is due to You.” Next, the entire psalm is read, followed by “Glory to Thee, O God,” and “Hear me.” This custom, which, as has been said, is retained in other sequences, also exists in the song, for the psalm, which is not spoken in its entirety, begins with some part of the verse, connected either with “hallelujah”, or with “glory to Thee, O God,” or with some chorus. And the chorus is called that because it is sung along with the psalm verse by verse, so that first the verse comes, then the chorus. For example: “Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear me, glory to You, O God.” Likewise in others. In all the evening psalms it is sung: “Incline, O Lord, Thy ear.” For the Sun of righteousness bowed the Heavens and descended, remaining unset, like the sensual sun, bowing and plunging, which with its inclination, immersion and shining announces the non-evening Sun, which appeared to us carnally. This means that God Himself, the Word of God, descended from Heaven to earth and illuminated us with the day of His First Coming, and descended underground even to hell, and rose again and ascended, and again appeared from Heaven and shone, and made the day of non-evening, and illuminated the whole world. Therefore, this entire psalm: “Bow down, O Lord,” is pronounced verse by verse by both faces, and “Glory to Thee, O God,” is sung with each verse. And that such a custom of following is ancient, prayers also show, for the first of the so-called prayers of light contains the thought of the entire psalm and the very words from it. You will find that “Lord, merciful and merciful” and others equally have thoughts in relation to the psalms of the antiphons and that the words were borrowed from them. This is clearly shown by the evening entrance prayer, the beginning of which: “Evening, morning and noon” (Ps. 54:18). For when there is an entrance and the verses on “Lord, I have cried” are sung, then a prayer is read, containing both psalm words from the verses sung, and thoughts, so that through the priest everything will be lifted up to God. For example: “Correct our prayer, like incense before You” (Ps. 140:2); and: “Do not turn my heart into the words of wickedness” (Ps. 140:4), also: “Our eyes are towards You, O Lord, Lord” (Ps. 122:1–2), - if only the priest’s entry lasts until this verse. This verse, I think, shows the prayer of the prophets and at the same time the prophecy that the Lord came and became man, and through suffering and rebellion saved us from hell and corruption. Therefore, the first of the psalmists calls Him a Priest, like David: “Lord, bow down the heavens and come down, and send Your power, and come to save us” (Ps. 143 Ps. 79:3), and as if from hell he cries out: “For my eyes are in You, O Lord; That is why the priest then comes to this verse: he points to Christ, who descended to us even before hell, and to His rebellion, through which we were uprooted from hell, and also His ascension into Heaven. So, at Vespers the Psalter was read before, as now at Matins, imitating what in the monasteries at Vespers they read one kathisma of the Psalter, and at Matins there are always two. Nowadays, at song vespers, due to weakness and negligence, the antiphons of the Psalter are not read, except on Holy Pentecost and at every Saturday vespers in Hagia Sophia alone, where, due to the murmuring of some lazy people, we decided to read only “blessed is the man” (Ps. 1:1) - one psalm with songs per voice. On Holy Pentecost, six antiphons, or one whole kathisma, are read again, according to custom. And the psalm “Incline, O Lord, Thy ear” contains both prayer and praise to God, and praises the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered for us, calls Him generous, abundantly merciful and true, and asks Him to give us a “sign for good” (Ps. 85:17), that is, the Cross, nailed to which in the flesh in the evening, the Savior died, and also begs Him to grant us power and save us. Then they sing “glory,” and the other person sings “even now,” and at the same time they sing “Glory to Thee, O God.” Then the priest again says the small litany: “pack and pack,” and “stand in,” and the singer sings “hallelujah” to the tune of the universe. For when the first cried out to God: “Intercede, save, have mercy and preserve us, O God, by Thy grace,” then the latter continues: “O God, intercede, save, have mercy and preserve us by Thy coming,” which means “hallelujah,” because “hallelujah” is interpreted as the coming of God, the walk and appearance of God, and is a special praise to His economy. That is why we sing it constantly. “Hallelujah” is also pronounced before the Gospel, as a word meaning the presence of Christ. It expresses that God is coming, Who has come and will come again from Heaven. Then the priest, having said: “Most Holy, Most Pure,” and having betrayed everyone to God through all the saints, proclaims: “For Thine is the power,” and glorifies the One God in the Trinity. And the singer immediately sings the day's prokeimenon, which is also called the last antiphon, for the sake of other antiphons read before, but now abandoned. So, on Saturday at Vespers one verse is said: “Arise, O God,” then “Glory, and now,” and at the same time, “Lord, I have cried,” with the chorus: “Your life-giving uprising, O Lord, we glorify,” which is read one week, and in another, “Your saving uprising, O Lord, we glorify,” and during the reading of further verses the priest makes an entrance, or many with him. And as is customary, the deacon with portable lamps and incense in the censer, in the image of the highest order, from the altar teaches the grace of God to offer our prayer to the mountain to the fragrant and pure Incense, which is indicated by the psalm sung at this time, and the prayer read when the priests bow: “evening and morning and noon,” and which, as it is said, is closely related to that what is being sung. “For correct,” he says, “our prayer, as incense before You” (Ps. 140:2), and: “Do not turn away our hearts” (Ps. 140:4), and snatch us from all those who hunt for souls, also: “Our eyes are towards You, O Lord, Lord” (Ps. 140:8) and: “Let us not be put to shame, O our God.” Then comes an exclamation. When the priests rise, the sign of the cross is performed and the priest says: “Blessed is the entrance of Thy saints, O Lord,” then “wisdom, forgive,” with the sign of the cross through a censer. All this points to the coming from Heaven of the Savior in the last centuries, at the sunset of this life, to His sanctified life, like a censer, and to bringing us to the Father through His All-Holy Body, which He accomplished by humbling himself even to the Cross and death, descending into hell and resurrecting, defeating death by the Cross, and entering the Holy of Holies, and making the Kingdom of Heaven accessible to us. Therefore, the singer in the verse “As unto Thee, O Lord, Lord,” turns to the west and, bowing, calls upon the priest bearing the image of the Lord, and sings loudly: “As unto Thee, O Lord, Lord, my eyes are in Thee, and do not take away my soul” (Ps. 140:8). This expresses trust in the Lord, the deliverance that came from Him, and the salvation of our souls, as was predicted. So, the priest, returning to the altar, enters it like the Savior into Heaven. Meanwhile, on the pulpit, songs of praise of the Resurrection are sung, in the image of the Angels who praised the rise of the Savior, and the Apostles who preached to the world. During this praise, the priest or deacon commits incense, because the risen and ascended Christ has sent us the grace of the Spirit. Then, after “glory, even now,” the prokeimenon is sung, “for the Lord reigns” (Ps. 92:1), having defeated death and the devil with all the demons, and was clothed in splendor—immortality and incorruptibility of the flesh, and established the universe by faith in Him. Immediately the priest or deacon speaks the litany about all the faithful, and about kings and priests, and through prayer he proclaims: “For You are merciful,” for He has much mercy to have mercy on everyone, but no one in himself has the right to pardon. After the litany, the small litany immediately follows and the exclamation: “For it is yours, have mercy.” 312. About the three minor antiphons at vespers First, three antiphons are sung, called small ones, because they do not contain entire psalms, but optionally four verses from each. Then “glory, even now.” There are three of them - in the image and honor of the Holy Trinity. The first antiphon: “I have loved that the Lord will hear” (Ps. 114:1), calls on the Mother of God with the words of the prayers of the Mother of God, “Save, save us,” for, having loved God more than any verbal creature, She, in Her humility and Her highest purity, appeared worthy of having God indwelt in Herself and, having served the incarnation of the beloved Son, through Herself made us familiar. God the Father. After the verses sung by both faces, and after “glory, and now,” a small litany immediately comes and the exclamation is made: “With good pleasure and goodness,” for the Only Begotten Son deigned to descend to us. The second antiphon: “with faith, with the same words” (Ps. 115:1), calls on the Lord incarnate and says: “Save us, Son of God, risen from the dead, singing to Ti” or corresponding to the holiday. If it is not a week, nor a holiday, but the memory of a saint, then “wonders among the saints” are sung (Ps. 67:36). The antiphon “with faith, with the same words” indicates the faith of the apostles and saints, through which all the pagans were drawn to faith from unbelief. And the antiphon “I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (Ps. 116:4) means communion with Christ and salvation through the fact that the saints shed blood and thus became partakers of Christ’s suffering. Having achieved salvation through torment and deeds, they also save us: through them we are united with the Lord. That is why we say with glory: “Only Begotten Son,” pointing to His communication with us; and this verse is stated by Saint Cyril. And on “and now” we bless the Most Glorious Mother of God, since through Her the Only Begotten is united with us and since She is sanctification and is exalted above all holy Angels and people. After the verses “Glory, even now,” the small litany and the exclamation “How holy art thou, our God,” again come, and the singer immediately sings the third antiphon. This antiphon - “praise the Lord, all nations” (Ps. 116:1) is an angelic song of praise, calling the whole world to glorify the Trinity. Then follows “Holy God” and, when the verses are spoken by both faces, and “glory, and now” is sung, the added “Holy God” is read again, that is, after what is said with “glory, and now.” The Trisagion hymn is sung loudly, and at this time all those serving Vespers stand uncovered, as if praising God. So, look at the order of church chants in these three antiphons. In the first antiphon, the Church invokes the intercession of the Mother of God. In the second, even more sublimely, she begs the Lord incarnate from Her with the prayers of the saints. In the third and last, together with the Angels, he praises the Trisagion God, asking for His mercy and gradually ascending to the highest glorification. At the end of this, the bishop, depicting the Lord blessing from Heaven, seals the people three times from his throne, or stasidia. Then follows the Great Litany and the Litany of Petition. The deacon says: “Let us fulfill the prayer,” and the priest teaches peace and reads the prayer of adoration, which signifies our slavery and humility before God, and the humiliation of God to the image of a slave. And when the priest, showing our rebellion from the fall and death and thanking the One who saved us, raises his head and loudly, with all his soul, proclaims: “Be the power of Your Kingdom,” then the litany behind the pulpit is immediately served, to propitiate God to all the faithful. After the resurrection, verse by verse, and “glory, and now” are sung in turn, the priest performs an extended prayer, and, as always, “Lord, have mercy” is sung, as if before the tomb of Christ. And after “hear us, O God,” the troparions of dismissal are read and dismissal occurs. But if the day is common, then there is no litia, and the troparion of dismissal is read when the priest goes out as for the litia and stands behind the pulpit, and the singers sing “Virgin Mother of God.” After this song, the priest exclaims: “Let us pray to the Lord. For You are our enlightenment, O Christ our God, and we send glory to You.” These words mean: You gave us sensory and mental light, You command the sun to set and rise, You are the true light, which appeared to us and was taken from us, and is coming to illuminate us again. This is how dismissal is accomplished. The last of all prayers is the prayer of adoration and dismissal - the same at Matins, and in every other prayer. From this it is clear that the song sequence is preferable and older than the other and that this is precisely its beginning. Yes, look at the order: after prayer, he prescribes, as a sign of slavish devotion, bowing of heads and this ends the prayer, for in everything one must humble oneself and bow before the Master and confess one’s slavery to Him before Him. If a holiday or memory of the celebrated saint occurs, then after the exclamation of adoration, the established readings are performed, through which everything related to the holiday or the ancient saints is preached and testified to us. Therefore, the songs of praise first include the psalms of David and other holy prophets, and only then the songs of praise from the times of grace are sung, for the former predated the latter. Immediately, after all the songs of praise have been performed, teachings about the celebrations being performed are read. Matins is celebrated in the same spiritual way and in the same accordance with the holidays or the memory of saints. It marvelously depicts everything from the beginning of creation. It depicts and describes, on the one hand, Old Testament and prophetic events, and on the other, the economy of the Savior. She both teaches and reveals to us the circumstances of our salvation both in songs of praise and in ritual actions. It also shows that through our Savior we have gained entrance and access to Heaven. I will also outline the weekly Matins, according to the model of which the daily Matins are also performed. From this presentation her rank will be clear. While the royal gates of the church are locked, the priest, as a mediator and as a person having the image of an Angel, stands before the gates and blesses God, the One in the Trinity, saying: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” and immediately proclaims peaceful petitions and “intercede, save, have mercy.” The singer immediately sings part of the psalm appropriate for singing, according to the Divine books: “and he smelled” (Ps. 3:6); "Glory to Thee, O God." The church, before the gates of which the priest stands, depicts ancient paradise and Heaven, or, better to say, it truly is paradise and Heaven, because on the throne standing in the middle of the holy altar, as in paradise, there is a tree of life - the sacred Christ and His all-holy cross. Here is a sacred meal, like Heaven, a throne, where the King of glory, Christ, sits in His mysteries and the Gospel, and around Him are angelic forces, holy ranks, holy ointment, the holy remains of martyrs, a host of apostolic and prophetic souls, often sent, and forthcoming, and hitherto present in their most holy writings. Also around Christ and the throne is a host of Angels who really come, as it were, to consecrate us, when they sing the same song of praise that we sing, and when the same service is performed to mountain and valley. Here is paradise and Heaven, which we have concluded and are constantly concluding for ourselves with our crimes. Then the priest says: “Most Holy, Most Pure,” and, having betrayed himself and everyone to God, loudly praises God and says: “For all glory is due to You.” After singing, the singer reads: “I fell asleep and fell asleep” and “Glory to Thee, God.” And thus, having begun the psalm: “Lord, that I have multiplied all this” (Ps. 3:2), continuing the following verses, he ends it all, and both faces alternately sing: “Glory to Thee, O God.” Then three psalms are read in a row in the image and honor of the All-Holy Trinity, namely: “What have you multiplied,” and “O God, my God, to You in the morning” (Ps. 62:2), and “Behold, now bless the Lord” (Ps. 133:1). Between these three psalms, trinitarian psalms are sung on holidays, that is, “Glory to Thee, Father, glory to Thee, Son, and glory to Thee, Holy Soul,” and similar ones, and on ordinary days and on weeks other than the week of the Forefathers and Fathers, only “Glory to Thee, O God” are sung; then with “glory” again “glory to Thee, O God”, with “and now” - the same thing and, finally, the same thing added - loudly. Priest - “pack and pack” and “stand up”; singer – “universe” and “hallelujah”. Priest - “Most Holy” and an exclamation. And the singer immediately - “chastity on the way” and “hallelujah”; “Blessedness of the blameless on the way” and the following in the verse and “Hallelujah”. Thus, while the entire first part is being performed, the verses are sung alternately by both faces with “Hallelujah.” Then - “glory, and now” and the added “hallelujah”. The priest then proclaims the small litany, and the singer says, “Give me understanding, O Lord.” The priest - “Most Holy, Most Pure” and an exclamation, and the singer - “Thy hands have created me and created me” (Ps. 119:73) and the rest of the verse with the refrain “Understand me, Lord,” and both faces sing other verses with the refrain “Understand me, Lord.” “Glory, even now” is sung with the addition of the same thing – “Give me understanding, O Lord.” Then the priest again pronounces the small litany, and the singer says “the universe”, “hallelujah”. The priest at this time opens one door of the church, showing that by the incarnation of the Lord, who looked upon us from Heaven and became human from the heavenly and living Door - the Mother of God, Heaven was opened to us, and also that the Lord already before the Passion and Resurrection opened Heavenly things to us, just as it is written about His Baptism, for He then saw the opened Heavens, which for us had previously been completely closed, and then, having ascended He Himself led us there too. So, the verses are sung by both faces up to: “Let my wealth come before Thee, O Lord.” And then, since the dispensation has already been completed, the Savior suffered, the sacrifice of the cross was made, all were redeemed by the rise of the Lord, and by His ascension those in hell and on earth ascended to Heaven, then the priest opens the gates and loudly sings the entrance with “Hallelujah” and everyone enters the church, as if into Heaven itself, following the priest holding the cross and depicting the Lord, the Cross of us saved. Three candles are established in the cross, signifying the trisunlight, for through the Cross the knowledge of the Holy Trinity and Her glory were revealed and shone. Upon entering, the priest immediately bows his head, thanking the Lord. If the bishop is also present, then he bows his head along with the priest, and both read the prayer of entry, and the bishop seals it, saying: “Blessed is the entrance of Your saints, O Lord.” So, preceded by the priest and the deacon, who represent the Angels, the bishop, bearing the image of Christ, who opened the doors of heaven and heaven for us, alone enters the great gates and, having entered, praises and thanks Him that through the Cross He opened the heavenly things to us and, as King and God, is the only Leader. He thanks Him that He, through the gates facing the east - through His Ever-Virgin Mother - is the only one who entered the world in this way, and that through Her he renewed our entrance into the heavenly one. The rest enter through the side doors, and all of them are behind the priest, for by following Christ, through Him we all enter Heaven. Meanwhile, both faces, standing in the middle, sing alternately the end of the psalm, proclaiming the Resurrection of Christ - our life and salvation, and say: “Let Thy hand save me” (Ps. 119:173); “My soul will live and praise Thee” (Ps. 119:175); “I have gone astray, like a lost sheep, seek Thy servant” (Ps. 119:176). Then “glory, even now,” and in praise of the Risen Lord who raised us, “Hallelujah” is again loudly sung, and immediately the consonant singing begins: “Bless all the works of the Lord the Lord, sing and exalt Him forever” (Dan. 3:57). During this singing, with a cross in their hands, the priest, like an Angel, and the bishop, like the Lord, ascend, accompanied by everyone, to the altar, as to the Throne of God. The bishop ascends to his throne, depicting his ascension and sitting in Heaven. I also call the throne a stasidia. The cross is erected on the pulpit opposite the altar, through three lamps lit in front of it, testifying to everyone about the death and rising of the Savior and the preaching of the Trinity. Then the entire song of the three youths is sung in agreement and loudly, with a chorus of blessings, since in the oven they depicted and glorified the Trinity and the incarnation of the Word. Then it is sung: “Let us bless the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Lord, now and ever.” And finally, it is added: “We praise, bless, sing and worship the Lord,” because we received all our blessings from the one God, the All-Holy Trinity, and through the economy of the Word, one from the Trinity, and were called from the great fall, and arose, and were illuminated by the true light, and were ascended to Heaven. Therefore, we immediately praise the Author of the Incarnation of the Word, the Mother of God, saying: “To you, the insurmountable wall and affirmation of salvation.” 314. About the prayers performed in the vestibule, about the censing and entry that takes place there. About the meaning of it all You need to know that in continuation of the first three psalms, the priest offers morning prayers to God. Then, when the singing of the immaculate begins, he takes the censer and, having put incense and blessed (and if the bishop is present, then he blesses the censer), begins to burn incense on the right side of the vestibule, where the holy icon of the Archangel is located on the wall, and censes around the vestibule along the base of the church and the walls, and those standing move away from the walls, and then again take their places. Returning to where he started, he makes the sign of the cross with a censer and says: “wisdom, forgive.” In the monasteries at this time, on holidays, one lamp is carried in front of it and small and many candles are lit in the vestibule. Then the singer, as if calling him, exclaims: “Blessed are you, O Lord,” for there is a custom to sing this verse at the end of the incense. And the priest says in a quiet voice: “wisdom, forgive me,” and immediately goes and burns incense to the bishop and in the order of all the others. Then, entering the church through the side doors, he silently censes the entire church, which is then, as said, locked. Entering the altar, he censes there and, leaving the censer, takes the honorable cross standing behind the holy altar. At this time, no one precedes him and no lamps are carried before him. He goes either alone or with a deacon. Coming out of the other side doors, he bows his head before the bishop and, bringing the cross, places it on the right side, near the great gates of the divine church. It already stands there until the end of the psalms. Then, after lighting three candles in front of the cross and opening the gates, a ceremonial entrance is made. And this is done not without intention, but with a wondrous and lofty thought, explained by the saints, who, being guided by Divine knowledge and contemplation, depicted everything beautifully. Therefore, taking up this matter again, we will look at this in more detail. Standing and singing outside the church express, as we said, our expulsion from heaven, the imprisonment of Heaven for us, the death of all and the stay of the righteous souls in hell. For this reason, we stand on the western side of the church, as if we were in the darkness of hell and corruption and as if possessed by ignorance and delusion. A very great light is not kindled here, because our light was poor then: it was the light of natural knowledge of truth, the light of prophecy and law. He could not illuminate us completely, for the great and unapproachable Light, the Sun of Truth, had not yet shone for us, the saving grace of God had not yet appeared to us, but, as if through a crack in the prison, a weak radiance penetrated into its darkness and darkness, which is depicted in the vestibule only by a cloud of incense, signifying the subordinate service of the canopy of the Old Testament. That light was given only to the Jews and was rejected by almost all nations. First, the priest burns the walls and foundations, because the Church is established on the foundation, which is the apostles and prophets, that is, the law laid the beginning, and the truth completed it. And if the Tabernacle was built by Moses and Bezalel by the power of the Holy Spirit, then all the more perfect is the church of Christ, founded by Divine grace, which forms His all-holy Body, created in the Virgin from Her holy and divine blood, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Based on all this, the reason for the retreat of those present from the walls of the church when the priest censes the foundations, and their return to their place, is clear. The first, that is, incense, marks the conception of the Lord in the Virgin and His incarnation, and the second, that is, the retreat and return - that we, having previously been far from God, have united with Him and are sanctified by Him. First, the church is consecrated, and then, through the church, we are, as was the case both in the Tabernacle and in the Old Testament church, which prefigured the Lord. Then the priest enters the church with incense, thereby giving honor to God, in imitation of the Old Testament incense in the Holy of Holies, being, however, above the Old Testament priests, because he is enriched by the grace of the great and only Bishop according to the order of Melchizedek. The priest, according to Scripture, is, as it were, an Angel of God Almighty, propitiating Him with incense, while the people propitiate Him with psalms, which are thanksgiving and propitiatory offerings to God, begging Him to come and appear to us. They depict the works of our Savior Himself, and especially His immaculate life and economy, which are clearly suggested by the so-called immaculate people, as well as the life of His saints, as well as His Passion and Resurrection. Therefore, this is sung mainly on the days of the Lord and often on the days of remembrance of saints. Also the first psalm, with the second and third - “blessed is the man,” for blessed is the man and blameless in the way - one is the Savior, and by the grace of the Savior are His saints. So, having entered inside with the censer, as into the Holy of Holies, or, better to say, into that sanctuary that is higher than the Holy of Holies, the priest thereby reminds of Zechariah and imitates his incense. For Zechariah, censing alone in an inaccessible place of the church, received from the Messenger of grace the gift of John, who preceded our Savior and God with preaching, and baptism, and life, and suffering. After which the priest takes up the cross and leaves not triumphantly, but silently, for Jesus, our God, when the events of the Old Testament law were completed and His Cross was foreshadowed by the sufferings and preaching of the prophets, He Himself came to us with humility, and not with brilliance: He revealed the image of the life of the cross, lived on earth holy and angelic, which showed how close this life under the cross is to the gates of Heaven. Therefore, having fulfilled all the predictions of the prophets, He committed Himself to crucifixion, died, rose again and sent to preach and baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. For this reason, three lamps are lit in front of the honorable cross. Since the Risen One was crucified, revealed Himself to us in His wounds, ascended to Heaven and raised us up, everyone flocks to His cross, which reveals this, which is held by a priest or bishop, for He Himself renewed for us the recently paved path through the veil of His flesh, through Him we found the entrance into the holy, and He Himself, as the Great Bishop, entered once into the Holy of Holies and, as Redeemer, accomplished our eternal redemption. Thus we enter with Him, bearing His reproach, which He endured for us outside of Jerusalem. That is why His cross is taken out of the church, so that for the sake of His sufferings and sorrows, which He endured outside for Adam, who was tempted, defeated and died inside Eden, from which he was expelled, we, through Jesus, who suffered outside Jerusalem, entered inside and together with Him, as the King of Heaven, ascended to Heaven. This is the rite of Matins. If there is a reading, especially from the synaxarion, which announces those who suffered for Christ, or the present celebration, or the imitators of the deceased and risen Christ who died holy for the sake of Christ, then again there is an extended prayer and “Have mercy on me, O God,” is sung with the appropriate chorus, which is called penticostaria. 315. About the fiftieth psalm Penticostarium is the same as the fiftieth psalm. Pronounced on the occasion of David’s guilt in murder and fornication, this psalm is suitable for all pious people as a psalm of repentance, and especially for the forefather of our race, Adam, who doomed himself and all his offspring to death and fell into fornication, having eaten from a tree that was not allowed to him as food, and having dreamed of equitheism, which he did not have by nature, since he was not God, but a creature. This psalm is equally suitable for all fallen people, which is why it is sung in church first of all. He calls on the mercy of God and the remission of sins and begs for a pure heart, for the renewal of the Holy Spirit in us, which we have lost through corruption, and begs for Him not to depart from us. The fiftieth psalm sacrifices a broken spirit, that is, instead of the wordless Old Testament sacrifices - repentance, foreshadowing the commandments of the Gospel and eliminating the ritual law, as the imperfect law of the canopy. For through the sacrifice of an irrational animal it is impossible for a person who has a rational soul to be saved, unless he is corrected again through this very soul, unless, therefore, he brings deep repentance and sacrifices the old man within himself for the sake of a sinless man - Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became man for our sake, who gave Himself as an acceptable sacrifice for all. The psalm also expresses the hope of creating a new Jerusalem, or church, in which the sacrifice of praise is offered - the confession of Christ and the fat Lamb - the Lord Himself. So, in this case, the pentikostarium is pronounced according to the verse by both faces, together with absolution or the day, or the holiday, or the saint. On the Master's holidays - "glory, and now" of the holiday, and on simple days - "glory, and now" of the day. And the verse: “Do not cast me away from Thy presence” reads “the intercession of Christians”; on “glory” - “Only Begotten”, on “now” - “Glorious”. And immediately - the canons of a holiday or a saint, with which the service is supplemented for the beauty and decorum of the church, for the glory of God and His saints. They are sung for eight if there are two of them; by six if it is a great saint; or four, if the saint is not entitled to a special celebration. The canons are also laid down for the benefit, consolation and constant exercise of the pious, as people accustomed to spend time singing the canons. Previously, they were not sung at song matins, but after the fiftieth psalm and the small litany they immediately read “praise,” and now after the canons the exapostilaria are read, then the small litany and immediately “praise.” The singer of the first lyric responds to the verse “Praise the Lord from heaven” (Ps. 149:1), “A song befits you to God,” and the other one does the same thing to another verse. The other six verses are also recited in this manner. From this it is clear that the song matins gave the monasteries the opportunity to initially say the same thing: “A song to God is fitting for you,” and in response to the verse “Praise the Lord from the earth” - “give glory to God” (Ps. 149:7). The same goes for the other six verses. To the verse “His name is exalted” - “Praise is due to Him”; and to the verse “let them praise His name” (Ps. 149:3) - “glory to Thee, Holy Father,” and the same to the other. To the verse “kings bind their fetters” (Ps. 149:8) - “spare us, O Lord, for the sake of your Holy Spirit” (for the Holy Spirit, says Paul, is the Lord), so that the Trinity may be glorified. And similarly for other verses. To the verse: “Praise God in His saints” - “Son of God, have mercy on us,” for the sake of the incarnation again; and the rest is like this. To the verse: “Praise the Lord with cymbals of good accord” (Ps. 151:5) - “Glory to You who showed the light,” and the next one after it the same. Then - “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who visited His people and created deliverance for them” (Luke 1:68). And this is said in all verses, for this song is a prophecy about the incarnation of the Word, its foreshadowing and thanksgiving expressed by Zechariah shortly before the birth of the Forerunner and the Baptist. And therefore the Church solemnly sings this song as a song of thanks. For “glory” - “Blessed is the Lord Jesus the King, for you have visited me,” and it is sung loudly. To “and now” - the same, and it is added: “Let us all sing to the Mother of God, Who through the Falls received forgiveness and intercession of our souls.” This is the foreshadowing of the economy of Christ, and especially, as we said, through the birth of the Baptist. Then immediately the reader, having exclaimed: “Glory to God in the highest,” takes the cross in his hands on the pulpit and stands on the pulpit, and the singers join in a great doxology. This happens every time. On Sunday, praise publicly and, finally, the stichera of the resurrection, or a holiday, or a great saint, if his memory is celebrated; for “glory” - the morning stichera, and the priests enter with a cross and the Holy Gospel. Performed at Matins, it marks the Resurrection of the Savior. Therefore, when the priest, bowing, says the prayer of the morning entrance, which means, as we have said many times, the humiliation of the Lord, His descent to us even to hell and the restoration of the fallen, then the Gospel rises, preaching about the Resurrection, and says: “wisdom, forgive,” also like preaching the Resurrection. Then, on “and now,” “Blessed are you,” is sung, since through the Mother of God salvation has been granted to us and Eve’s curse has been lifted. When the priests enter inside, then first the reader, holding a cross on the pulpit, says: “Glory to God in the highest,” then the singers sing the appropriate chant. Then everyone pronounces a doxology, the priests - in the holy altar. And from the words “there is good will among men,” it is accomplished unanimously, without and within, for through Christ we have become one Church, high and low—and this is for the preaching and glory of the Resurrection of Christ. Therefore, the Sunday troparion “today is salvation” is sung in one week, and “he rose from the grave” in another. It is sung sweetly three times, both by the singers outside the altar and by the priests inside it - and this rite clearly depicts the Resurrection of the Savior. For this reason, “Rise up, Lord,” is immediately sung, and the presbyter, demonstrating the most perfect order of Angels, reads the morning Gospel from the pulpit. This is followed by a special litany and a litany of petitions, adoration and dismissal. This is how the service of Matins is performed. And about the celebration of the liturgy it was previously written in other places. 316. About the third and sixth hour of Lent and about the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Now let's talk about the rite of the third-sixth (τριθεκτη) hour during fasting, which lay priests, of necessity, combine with the liturgy and perform on Holy Pentecost in cathedral churches. The third and sixth hour preserves the rite of the holy liturgy until the great entrance. This was invented by the ancient fathers for the reason that there is no full liturgy on Holy Pentecost. The third and sixth hour is performed as follows. Taking the blessing, the deacon says: “Bless, master.” Priest: “Blessed is the Kingdom.” The deacon pronounces peaceful petitions. The priest - the prayer of the first antiphon “God, sit on the Cherubim” and the exclamation “For You are our God, a God of mercy,” and the singers sing the entire psalm “To You, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul” (Ps. 24:1), and sing in verse: “Through the prayers of the Mother of God, to “glory, even now” - the same. The deacon again: “packs and packs.” The priest secretly repeated the prayer of the second antiphon, “We pray to Thee, O Lord our God,” and the exclamation, “How glorified is Your all-holy name,” and the singers of the second antiphon, the entire psalm: “The Lord is my enlightenment and my Savior” (Ps. 27:1). Both faces speak in verse: “Save us, Son of God, singing Ti Hallelujah”; “glory, even now” – the same. Deacon - “packs and packs.” Priest - secretly an antiphon with the addition of “hallelujah” in verses. While singing the verses “walk on the path blamelessly,” at the end of the psalm, in one verse, the deacon and priest enter the salt without lamps and censer, signifying the bringing of the Lord to death on the cross, which took place at the sixth hour. That is why it takes place at the third and sixth hour. The deacon says: “Bless the entrance, O holy master,” and the priest says the prayer: “Blessed is the entrance of Your saints, O Lord, always, now and ever.” This entrance, as it is said, depicts the Savior’s being drawn to death on the cross, and when He was taken away and nailed, it was the sixth hour. At the same time, the robber who was crucified with him, for his few words of repentance, was introduced into heaven. The deacon and priest are clothed at this time in scarlet robes, thereby signifying the suffering and death of the Lord. After entering, the deacon again pronounces peaceful petitions, and the priest reads the prayer “Lord God of our fathers,” referring to the sixth hour, and prays to save us “from the arrow that flies in the days, from the thing that passes in darkness, from the cloak and the demon of the midday” (Ps. 91:5, 6) and raises many other petitions to God, then cries out: “As befits You.” And the singers immediately sing the troparion of prophecy. The reader on the pulpit reads the prophecy, after which the deacon says: “Reach all.” And the priest reads the prayer of the litany to himself and proclaims: “For he is merciful.” Everything else happens according to the rules of the holy liturgy with the Gospel. For together with the Apostle and the Gospel there is a reading of Isaiah, who preached more clearly than others about the Savior, especially about His Passion. That this is also an ancient custom of the fathers is evident from the fact that in monasteries at the sixth hour the prophecy of Isaiah is read throughout Lent, and the prophecy of Ezekiel is read during Holy Week, because it also preaches about the Passion and Resurrection of the Savior. Then the deacon says: “Pray for the catechumen.” And the priest says a prayer for the catechumens. From Wednesday of the fourth week, the deacon offers petitions for those preparing for holy enlightenment, and the priest reads for them the prayer “Lord our God, show Thy mercy” and the exclamation “for Thou art our enlightenment.” Then the deacon again pronounces the usual “Catechumenate”, and the priest - the first prayer of the faithful, “Lord our God, like polytheistic error.” Deacon - “wisdom, forgive.” Priest - “For You are our God.” Deacon – “peaceful petitions.” Priest - the second prayer of the faithful “Lord our God, who in a little time.” Deacon - “wisdom”. The priest exclaims: “For you are blessed and glorified.” Deacon - “Let us fulfill our prayer to the Lord.” The priest - the great prayer “Lord our God, the only good and loving man,” in which he mentions the Crucifixion of the Savior, and His Resurrection, and the Ascension, and offers a petition that the grace of God may come to us, may it strengthen and sanctify us, and many others, and also asks God for what is necessary and useful, and finally, says: “may the grace and mercy of God always be with us,” and proclaims: “For Your power is Yours.” Then he says: “peace to all”: and the deacon immediately says: “our heads.” The priest - the prayer of adoration, “Lord our God, who sits on the throne of glory,” and proclaims: “Blessed be the all-holy name of Thy love for mankind.” Deacon - “We will go out in peace.” And when the priest leaves, they both go behind the pulpit to praise God among everyone, and begin Vespers. The deacon says: “Let us pray to the Lord.” The priest, looking to the east, proclaims: “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His holy place always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.” At litanies this is the beginning of the litanies. When the bishop says this from the pulpit, this is the beginning of the light. And immediately, on the side of the church, the singers sing vespers, like a paraklisis, and the psalter and stichera of the Triodion and Menaion are read there, according to the rules of the monasteries, and “Quiet Light,” and “Voucher,” since this is a sequence of contrition, similar to that of a monk. And verse-by-verse - they are self-concordant, “Now you let us go,” “The Trisagion” and “To the Virgin Mary.” “Lord, have mercy” is not said, there is no bowing or dismissal, and no lamps are lit before the paremia at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. For after the “Virgin Mother of God” and other things that usually happen, everyone goes to their places. 317. Why are litanies performed outside the church and why are crosses and holy icons worn during their celebration? You need to know that all litanies performed outside the church (either in the vestibule, or around monasteries or cities) are served in remembrance of our falling away: as a sign that we, who have fallen away, being, as it were, outside Eden, must humble ourselves and think that we are unworthy of holy places - heaven and Heaven. And we should imitate the publican, who, out of deep consciousness of his sinfulness, stood at a distance, and Adam, expelled from paradise, and the prodigal son, who went into a foreign country. We offer prayers at crossroads and squares so that everything corrupted by our sins will be cleansed. Therefore, we remove from churches holy icons, honorable crosses, and sometimes the most sacred remains of saints, so that together with people, everything that they use will be holy: their houses, and roads, and water, and air, and the earth, desecrated by us and, as it were, trampled upon, and the city inhabited by us, and the country. And so that all this would be worthy of Divine grace and freed from corruption and corruption, so that Christ, who took the form of a servant and became incarnate for us, would be merciful to us, Whom His holy icons represent to us, Whose image is also seen in the images of saints who purely lived on earth. All of the above is necessary so that God, who walked for us on earth and was crucified for us in the flesh, will save us, who confess the work of His lofty goodness and love, by which He shed His Blood on the Cross and died for us. This is also necessary so that we, who gather together and carry before us those very signs of His Passion - honest images of the cross, will be snatched away from death by Him, through the destruction of the enemy who killed us with a tree. So, when the deacon in his time says: “Bless, master,” the priest exclaims: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father.” And the deacon pronounces peaceful petitions, and vespers are sung. After the exclamation, the following is sung: “Bow, Lord,” to the end, and the priest reads the prayers of light. Then follow the song dedicated to the end of the day: “Lord, I cried,” the usual verses and the entrance of the deacon and priest, or the priest alone, entering without lamps and in silence and signaling the first coming of Christ, when we were sitting in darkness. And to the verse of the singer calling out: “For You, O Lord,” the priest enters the holy altar. The verses are sung with a refrain for each verse: “With my voice I cried to the Lord” (Ps. 76:2). Then - “glory, and now” and an additional chorus. And when everyone sits down, there is immediately a reading from Genesis on the pulpit. During the reading, two candlesticks are prepared in the altar, and during the bishop’s service, a larger number of them, and a censer. If a deacon serves with a priest, then one deacon comes out holding a censer and a burning lamp. The readers precede with candlesticks. And when there is no deacon, one priest comes out, holding a lamp and a censer, and, preceded by the readers, walks along the side of the altar, to the end of it. 318. Why are lamps lit at Vespers during proverbs and what do the words mean? The light of Christ enlightens everyone At the end of the reading from Genesis, the priest immediately goes out with a lamp to the royal doors, everyone stands up at this time, the priest stands in the middle of the church, makes the sign of the cross with a censer, loudly exclaiming: “Wisdom, forgive,” the light of Christ enlightens everyone, and again enters the holy altar. Then the reader on the pulpit reads the paremia, and ordinary lamps are lit in the church. This signifies that at the end of the ages, to us, sitting in darkness, the true Light, Jesus Christ, shone through the incarnation and filled the universe with the light of His grace. That is why at the end of the entire Vespers it is said: “For You are our enlightenment, O Christ our God.” And this (lighting of lamps) happens after reading from Genesis, before the beginning of the proverb, because the book of Genesis tells about what happened in the beginning, about the creation of all things and the fall of Adam, and the proverb mysteriously teaches about the Son of God and admonishes those who have received sonship through Him, as if they were sons. Calling the Son Himself Wisdom, the proverb says that Wisdom created for herself a house - His All-Holy Body, in which there are seven pillars, all of which are gifts of the Spirit, so that with her own Bread of the Body and the Cup of Blood, Wisdom nourishes and gives drink to everyone, and that She is the light that illuminates the high and the low. “For,” says the Scripture, “God founded the earth with wisdom and prepared the heavens in understanding,” and David also sings that “with wisdom you have created all things” (Ps. 103:24). And that this light is the image of the true Light - Jesus Christ, is clear from the fact that a deacon, serving with a priest or bishop, comes to him and, lighting a lamp, before leaving says: “Bless the light, master.” The bishop or priest, blessing the light, says: “For You are our enlightenment, Christ our God, always.” And then the deacon comes out before the paremia. And according to the proverb, “let him be corrected” is immediately sung and the rest of the usual sequence of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is performed. 319. About the fact that one must worship with special reverence during the entrance to the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts When entering with the Holy Gifts, we must worship with special reverence, because the Divine Gifts are sanctified and our Savior Himself is truly present in them, for on the paten lies His All-Holy Body with His Divine Blood. At the end of the liturgy, the prayer behind the pulpit is read as a propitiatory and absolution prayer, as a prayer of petition that we may see the Resurrection and celebrate it both here and there. And it is read behind the pulpit, in the middle of the church, so that we can hear it and with its words pray for all the people, as if before the face of God. When the liturgy is thus over, there is an all-night vigil. Look at his rank. 320. About the all-night vigil in the first week of Holy Pentecost In the first week, after the prayer behind the pulpit, the priest (or bishop, if he is present) blesses the singer, and the singer immediately sings: “He lives in help” (Ps. 90), and the priest, saying the prayer, takes the sacred vessels to the repository, then to “glory, and now” he creates a great litany and makes an exclamation: “as it behooves You.” The singer sings the first antiphon to the Lord “I am never in sorrow” (Ps. 119:1), with the refrain “like the gracious Lord,” and at the same time the verses are sung by both faces. The priest says the prayer of the first antiphon during the day. After “glory, even now” and the additional verse, the priest again creates a small litany and the exclamation: “For you are sanctified and glorified.” The left face sings the second antiphon to “To Thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul,” with the refrain of “the door of mercy.” While singing, along with this verse, the priest reads the prayer of the second antiphon, “To You, Eternal” and “Unevening Light,” and adds two other prayers: “To the incessant and unceasing praise” and “To the Lord Almighty, incomprehensible.” These wonderful prayers belong primarily to the funeral service. Then, after “glory, even now” and an additional verse, the priest performs a small litany and the exclamation “for it is good,” and the third antiphon is sung, “rejoice in those who spoke to me,” with the refrain “have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us.” Then the priest, taking a lighted candle and censer, first censes the altar, and then, according to ancient custom, the people outside the church. If there is a deacon, then he holds a candle and precedes the priest. After “glory, and now,” the additional verse is not said, but only the end of the troparion, “Lord, have mercy on us,” and the singer immediately reads the fiftieth psalm, “Have mercy on me, O God,” saying verse by verse: “Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,” and both faces sing the entire psalm, “glory, and now,” and the additional verse. Look carefully at the sung psalms and the troparia connected with them and you will find that there are three of them: three antiphons and three troparions, in honor of the Trinity, to which they are addressed, therefore they are filled with humility, confession and contrition. At the end, the fiftieth psalm is read again with “Lord, have mercy,” which in contrition calls on God for mercy. Then the deacon - “Let us pray to the Lord”; priest “as you are holy”; and “every breath” is sung. The first of the priests reads the Gospel on the ambo, and immediately the song “incorporeal nature” is sung, which, being composed of verses, glorifies the Trinity and calls for mediation all the hosts of saints. The singer continuously and loudly calls out three times: “Lord, have mercy,” the deacon - “we are still praying for the hedgehog to be heard,” and again three times, “Lord, have mercy.” Priest - “hear us.” You see how marvelous this rite is: while the priest, being a mediator, secretly prays inside the altar, the petitions of the people are raised to God. Then - “blessed be the name of the Lord” when we go to eat food for bodily needs. But this does not happen without consecration, for first we take the consecrated food, and then, when “I will bless the Lord” is read, there is a distribution of antidor and dismissal. This is the song sequence, the most necessary and ancient, performed through the mediation of the priest, who, as we have said many times, is installed as a mediator before God, in the image of Jesus, and who, by the grace of God accepted at the ordination, has the right of mediation. This very rank embraces the sevenfold praise. It is performed both in the vestibule, during the rite of the Midnight Office, and inside the church, during the rite of Matins. The third and sixth hour embraces the third and at the same time the sixth hour; the lamp forms the ninth hour; The rite of song vespers is Vespers itself, and the rite of all-night vigil replaces compline. But now, due to negligence, it has been abandoned, but it should be observed in cathedral churches either always, or from time to time, so that the ancient tradition remains inviolable. In monasteries and other churches it is performed as a monastic ritual and is sung by one person. But we have already laid it out to you, who, by the grace of God, are still doing it and keeping it. We spoke briefly about this following for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 321. About the offered holy bread of Panagia Having reached this point in our explanations, we will now say a little about the offered sacred bread of Panagia. And finally, after everything, we will conclude our story with a word about what relates to the end of our life. The bread offered with the invocation of the All-Holy One is decreed to be offered primarily at the end of the fraternal meal, for the consecration of the brethren who receive it as if to seal food, and especially for the glory of the Mother of God, Who gave birth to us the Heavenly Bread, living and abiding, and always feeding our souls. However, it can be lifted up at any other time, when someone needs it, for our help. It ascends at the request of someone and during the very celebration of the liturgy; many of the clergy also have the constant custom of raising it out of a desire to call upon and honor the All-Sung One, especially when the Mysteries of Her Son and our God are being performed, so that through this we may receive the greatest help from Her. In this case, the ascension takes place when, according to the Divine Mystery, we are supposed to remember Her: when we say “pretty much about the Most Holy One” and call on Her as the most reliable Helper and Intercessor in all our needs and misfortunes. Thanks to the offering of this bread, we are honored with the greatest help, which we have often experienced on ourselves and heard from many trustworthy people. For when this bread is offered, not just any simple words are spoken, but the One God of all and ours, One in the Trinity, is called upon and glorified, and the truly All-Holy Mother of God is invoked and a prayer is made to Her for help, and in this is the mystery of our faith, the confession and hope of our salvation. So, the offering is performed during the brothers' meal, since this meal is, of course, not performed without blessing, reasonableness and observance of order. Is it really possible that the meal of the servants of God the Word, the one, pure, holy and living Bread, who created and creates with the word everything and everyone, could be different - the meal of the one living Wisdom of God?! First, thanksgiving is performed and, for the sake of daily bread, the prayer “Our Father” is sung. During her singing, a triangular particle is removed from the bread that is presented for everyone, depicting the Trinity and Its unity with all its sides: by the numbers of angles and sides - the Trinity, and by a single descent upward - unity. Therefore, no matter how you turn this bread, it has three corners, and one pointed top connects them. We offer a piece of bread cut out in this way, which is observed according to the apostolic tradition and the unwritten rule of the ancient fathers, every day, as is customary, to our One God in the Trinity in the name of the Mother of God, since through the Divine We have come to know Christmas as the Trinity, for the Mother of God gave birth in the flesh to the One of the Trinity, and truly is and is rightly called the Mother of God, and is for us the Giver of living manna and the Mother of Divine drink. 322. About decorum at the brothers' meals and about prayers When this bread is placed in a certain sacred vessel intended for this purpose and the priest seals it with a blessing, then a lamp is lit in front of it and the priest blesses the food, calling on our God Jesus Christ to bless it. During the meal, the sacred scriptures are read, so that, as we are taught, we do everything for the glory of God, for it is said: “Whether you eat, drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31), and so that everything is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. Therefore, blessings and prayers are performed, and the divine scriptures are read, so that we are not, like animals, occupied only with the belly, but, like rational beings clothed with flesh, strengthen the flesh with food, and the soul with the words of Scripture. Having risen from the meal, we all glorify God in prayer, together with David, blessing the Lord who has mercy and nourished us from our youth, and we say: “Glory to Thee, Holy One, glory to Thee, the King, that Thou hast given us meat for joy,” and other things that Chrysostom said regarding this. 323. About the offering of the Most Holy Bread (Panagia) After this is accomplished with doxology, the reader, who has served the brethren with spiritual service, goes to serve them with the next spiritual task. Having asked and received permission (for the pure must serve the pure, and permission cleanses), he lifts the bread in general silence and proclaims: “great name,” and everyone calls out: “Holy Trinity,” that is, the terrible name of the one God who exists in the Trinity. Then, making the sign of the cross, he adds: “Most Holy Theotokos, help us,” and everyone unanimously says: “Through your prayers, O God, have mercy and save us. You are our one and only God, the Holy Trinity, who is confessed and praised by us, for there is no other but You, who created and preserves us.” And then they offer songs of praise to the Mother of God and, in accordance with Her prophecy, say: “Let us all please Thee.” At the end of this, the voice of the Angel: “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you,” confessing in these words the following: through You the Lord is with us by His grace. Then they begin reverent and sweet-voiced singing with uncovered heads, as a sign that She is our head, having given birth to our Head - Christ, that She is our Heavenly Cover, Providence and Savior, and they sing “worthy to eat,” confessing Her as the Mother of God and chanting “more honorable than the Cherubim,” as hypostatically God the Word conceived in the womb and gave birth incorruptibly. And they will bless Her as the true and existing Mother of God. The words “we magnify” and “we bless” are borrowed from Her song, for She Herself said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,” and: “Behold, from now on all generations will bless me.” So, offering bread means offering it to God; the words “great name of the Holy Trinity” serve as a confession of the God of all in the Trinity and indicate that bread is offered to Him and His name is magnified. And the words “Most Holy Theotokos, help us” serve both as a confession of the incarnation of the Word, as indicated by the word of the Theotokos, and as an invocation of the Mother of God, for we believe that She is co-present with us, always ready to help. These words also serve as evidence that bread is offered to Her as a gift, or, better to say, through Her - to Her Son, who became incarnate from Her for our sake and for our sake voluntarily endured the Cross, which the one who offers and points to, making the cross into bread. This bread, over which the Divine name is invoked and the sign of the cross is performed, the name of the Mother of God is proclaimed and the incarnation of the Word is confessed, and the Mother of God Herself is called to help, this bread has great power: it delivers from many, or, better said, from all troubles, fills all blessings and is always saving. Therefore, we must do this both day and night and, if possible, at all times, we must magnify the Trinity and call on the Mother of God for help. For who is stronger than Her intercession? Who has greater boldness before God than She? Who has more power than Her to save us? I, for my part, doing this very often, constantly pronounce these divine words and have imposed on many the obligation to do the same as often as possible. You know that I decreed that in cathedral churches we should perform the above-mentioned rite every day and that the priest at every matins at the end of the ninth ode should offer this bread and pronounce the usual sacred words we have received from the fathers. He pronounced them in confession, as it is said, of the Holy Trinity, our only God of all, and the incarnation of the Word, as well as in honor of His Mother, the only Most Holy Ever-Virgin and true Mother of God, and to call upon Her for help. Thanks to this, we receive great help, so I convince you of Christ, I bequeath, ask and implore you all to do this for the sake of our salvation. If even some of the Gentiles make it a rule to say “Hail, O Full of Grace” in the morning and evening, considering this an expression of honoring the Immaculate Mother of God, although this song was not invented by them, but was an ancient paternal custom (which you will soon learn), then all the more we, the Orthodox children of the true Catholic Church, must do this unforgivingly and zealously. And that singing “Hail, O Full of Grace” in church has been a custom since ancient times, this can be understood from Vespers on Holy Pentecost, when, first of all else, at the end, after the “Our Father,” we immediately say: “Virgin Mother of God, Hail, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee,” and from the fact that this is certainly said at Vespers Vigil before the blessing of the loaves. And in the rite of song at every vespers, as you know, there is a custom in the Great Thessalonian Church to say the same thing. So, if “Hail, Full of Grace” must be said in honor and glory of the Mother of God, for the sake of the fact that this is the word of the Archangel, by whom the oath was permitted and joy was granted, the word in which the Savior of all God, God the Word, dwelt in Her and took flesh from Her, then all the more must we perform this divine and ancient work, as handed down from the fathers. This custom is attested to by all the statutes and ancient traditions that have come down to us from the fathers. This is the Divine service of bread lifted up and offered to God. This is the confession of the Trinity, the invocation and praise of the Holy Mother of God, performed for our help. Therefore, we please all of you and magnify you, it is sung justly and will be pleasing to Her, since this song is Her prophecy, transmitted by Her and repeated from Her words. And the words of the Angel “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you” must be spoken when turning to Her, for He who became incarnate was hypostatically in Her and now abides in Her by grace primarily before everyone, and through Her, according to the word of Isaiah, God was and is with us. This is what we pray to Her, crying out: “may it be through You that which we may always be worthy of through You. Amen". “Doing this, Vladyka, is truly necessary, useful and necessary for everyone, and we do this all the more willingly because you ordered this to be done and handed this matter over to us.” We carry it out at your command and in cathedral churches. And may we always perform divine services with your holy prayers without laziness. – Through the intercession of the Mother of God, may God grant this to both you and me, because we all need prayer help. And we constantly need and must pray and call upon the saints to intercede for us, and above all, the highest of all saints and the most immaculate Mother of God, who is more able than all to save us. For we all commit many sins. Now let us move on to our very death, in order to thus fulfill everything that we promised. About our death, and about the sacred rite of burial, and about customary commemorations We must worry about our death, terrible and inevitable, constantly, unceasingly and at all times. We need to turn our gaze to this as often as we remember God, that is, as often as we breathe in the air. For it is said: “Remember your last, and you will never sin” (Sir. 7:39). Prepare your deeds for the departure. All our concern should be directed towards this; hence the withdrawal from the world and asceticism, so that when the end comes, we will be ready. For this is what He who came to save us and saved us teaches: “Watch, because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42); also: “If the owner of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, be ready, for at an hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 24:43–44). Therefore, we all must always be prepared for the outcome and care not only about what happened here to others, but about ourselves and what happens to us: will not our souls now be caught away from us? Then what will be the benefit to us from what we now care about? So, we must humble ourselves, repent, confess to God, call on His mercy, try to be partakers of the Sacrament of Communion and constantly do this with attention and humility of soul, because this is what it means to be with God, and for God to be with us, for which He became incarnate. 324. About the frequent sharing of terrible Mysteries as a particularly useful thing for everyone This is why the Savior taught us these Mysteries, so that we could be one with Him. May we, bishops and priests, always be partakers of the terrible Mysteries, performing sacred acts with attention, contrition of heart and confession, and as for all others, they should also partake with repentance, contrition of heart and readiness of the soul. And let none of the people who fear God and love the Lord miss the Feast of Lent. And whoever has enough strength and attention, then let him begin to receive the Communion of Christ more often, even, if possible, every week. This especially applies to the elderly and infirm, for in this communication is our life and strength. Those who are threatened with death, let them hasten to communion even more often. And do not be afraid to partake of Life, as some crazy people are afraid, saying: lest we die! But you will rather die if you do not accept the terrible Secrets, for for you they are life, fidelity, strength and parting words to eternal life. If you still need to live here, then through Communion you will more likely retain real life, although there is no benefit in it, for it is only a difficult journey leading you to death and decay, a painful feat that is not given a certain measure and end, a reward in which there is no significant gain, a path filled with fear and anxiety, a way of existence that does not attract the love of the wise, since life is enveloped in uncertainty and decay, can always be kidnapped and always full of worries. In communion with the Mysteries of Christ, you will most likely find the source of life and strength, for, having touched Christ, the bleeding woman was healed, and the lepers were cleansed by His single touch, and the dead rose when His hand touched them, and He will revive you, and not kill you. If your death is destined for you and your time has come, go with all the greater haste to receive Him here as a pledge, for there He will be life, food, light, and rest for you. Having communed with Him here, you will have mercy there, and here you will also receive the firstfruits of His life, and you will remain with Him always, and your enemies will retreat far from you, not having the strength to overcome you, who have taken into yourself a fire that is unbearable for them. So, let anyone who is close to death confess, repent, and prepare himself in everything. Let him who does not have a complete image (monastic) accept it, so as not to leave imperfectly and without the most perfect sacred rite of the schema. For I know that many do not care about this, just as others were previously slow to approach baptism and did not receive it. And since one who has not received baptism is not a Christian, one who has not accepted the perfect image is not a monk. Listen to what the teachers of the Church say about this, especially Vasily and Gregory: their words about baptism can now be applied to the perfect monastic image and repentance. Let those who have not yet become a monk become one before their death, for this is the greatest gift, the royal seal, the second baptism: it cleanses from sins, imparts gifts and alms of grace, arms and seals, frees from enemies, places one before the Heavenly King and makes one His friend. If you accept the schematic image, you will be enlightened and not ashamed. If you are afraid, do not repent and hesitate, then how will you look at the King? So, repent, at least in your thoughts. While you have the strength, call the priest, humble yourself, confess, truly repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is approaching you. Ask for forgiveness, do as many deeds of mercy as you can, repay the offense, cover, if possible, the offense with fourfold, like Zacchaeus. Stand firm in your intention not to do evil again, drive away the harlot, remove the adulteress from you, make peace with the offender. Give peace, receive peace so that you can be with the friends of Christ, do works of mercy so that you yourself can receive God’s mercy. Receive also the anointing with holy oil according to the commandment of the Apostle, believing that you will receive remission of sins and deliverance from illness. And if, having gained remission of sins, you received healing of the flesh through the divine oil and rose from illness, then give thanks and fulfill what you promised, remaining in repentance, and again await your death. For she will come and is already close, you will never leave her. Constantly tell yourself: be ready, since the Savior constantly preaches: “Be... ready” (Luke 12:40), that is, always. If you are called to death, then may you find yourself ready and may you abide with God. May you be counted among His friends and may you enjoy the longed-for joy and bliss, for here you are deceptively drawn to restless pleasures, not knowing what pleasure is. If you want true pleasure in this life, hate carnal pleasures in order to receive true and lasting bliss. We say all this about those leaving as the instruction they need. 325. About the burial of bishops and priests, as well as monks and laity It is customary in the Church to bury a brother who has died in the faith in this way: the bishop and the priest, as a sanctified person, are prepared for burial by the hands of the priests, who clothe him in the pure robes of his rank. They first wash his body, without exposing it, with just water, using a sponge. Leading it, in the image of holy baptism, crosswise - over the forehead and eyes, over the lips and chest, over the knees and hands. Then, girding it on top, they place the bishop’s or priest’s vestments on him and put new shoes on his feet, and give him the Holy Gospel, which is first read over him, as if he had lived according to the Gospel. It is read at his death or even after death (if there is time for this). It is read to propitiate God, as well as to sanctify him with divine words. For what else can better serve to propitiate God in relation to the deceased than what is proclaimed in the Gospel: the incarnation of God, His teaching, the Sacraments, the gift of forgiveness of sins, suffering for us, life-giving death and the rising from the dead? The word of the Gospel is above all succession, and it is appropriate to read it over the sanctified, and over the monastics - the Psalter, which many still observe to this day. Then the body is taken and carried to the church with lamps, which represent the divine and eternal light. If the deceased is a monk, then, after washing him with a sponge in a cross shape, they dress him in monastic robes, and sew up the mantle on top, making it like a coffin for him, and crosses are made on top - for the sake of Christ, to whom he was crucified. With the usual prayer over the deceased, with the singing of the Trisagion and the burning of incense, the consecrated body is holyly committed to the earth after the deceased has given up his soul to God. The incense offered to God serves as propitiation for the deceased and signifies his pious and Orthodox life, as fragrant as it is pure. 326. Why is a holy icon placed on the remains of the deceased? An icon of Him Whom he loved (Christ) is placed on the chest of the deceased. When the priest reads the prayer, they take the newly deceased and carry him to the divine church with lamps. The same is done with the laity. For they also put on new and clean clothes, and put a holy covering on top as a sign that the deceased is faithful, holy and under the roof of Christ. An icon is placed on the cover as a sign that the deceased believed in Christ and surrendered his soul to Him. Then, when the prayer is read, the deceased is carried with lamps to the divine church. 327. Why, when the dead are carried to the church, is the “Thrice-Holy Hymn” sung? When the sanctified and the laity are carried, the “Trisagion Hymn” is sung, because the dead are servants of the Trinity, and preached It, and died in It, and abide in It, and are numbered with the Angels, who continually sing the “Trisagion Hymn.” In the church they believe that the bishops are in front of the holy gates or near them, and according to Saint Dionysius, they and the priests should be placed in the altar - the place of their service. The monks - in front of the holy gates, where they stood at services, and the laity - in the middle of the church, where they were supposed to stand according to their rank. However, this is not the case now: everyone is placed in the middle of the church. I think this is because there is more space there and everyone can see the deceased and stand before him or, perhaps, because just as those who were sanctified, starting from the altar, walk around the church during their entrances and walks and, consecrating everyone, dedicate the Divine church itself to God, so the deceased are placed in the middle of the church, as if in Heaven. However, it is also necessary to observe the statute of the great Dionysius, which clearly indicates the rank and place for each, for Paul also says: “each in his own order” (1 Cor. 15:23). 328. About tombs and how remains are buried in them How ancient the rite of burial is is shown by the so-called tombs, for even in the time of Constantine, the remains of bishops, as well as saints, for the sake of the grace of Divine sanctification, were first placed inside the altar, in the Great Church of the Holy Apostles. And many write, telling about the remains of the saints, that this was so. The kings were buried in the church or near the walls of the church, as their very graves show. In monasteries, there are tombs: special ones for placing the coffins of monks who had holy orders, placed under the altar, and special ones for ordinary monks. And here it is necessary that the bishops should be located closer to the altar, and behind them the priests and all other clergy, while the laity should be near the gates of the church, which is still strictly observed in the monasteries. The deceased, the abbots and the consecrated, are buried inside the church, and ordinary monks or laymen - in the vestibule, which we still see in some holy monasteries. But now, due to negligence, all this order is neglected and this order is abandoned: everything is mixed up. For this is so from the beginning: disorder has always been combined with pride, and pride with greed. Worldly thoughts arise more under the influence of each person’s passions than under the influence of holy customs; and many in this regard are unreasonable, or, better said, senseless. What is this, they say, and something? Why not bring the layman inside the church for the funeral service? Isn't he a Christian? So, my brother, he is a Christian, but not a priest, and one thing is a priest, and another thing is a layman. And if there were no difference between them, then a layman would baptize, and perform sacred services, and enter the altar. 329. About those who act randomly and mix everything in their actions, and that this is very dangerous But what am I saying about this? Such people, who mix everything up in their actions, who do not find any difference between the holy and the unholy, dare to do such things as allow people unworthy of the throne to enter the holy throne, and, without the bishop’s blessing, command the Holy Scriptures to be read in church. And this most wicked thing reached such an extent that disorder became a custom. Many do not even consider the holy blessing necessary and ask for it almost only when they begin to accept ordination, and even at that moment they accept it almost only according to custom. Human! Don't you consider it of little importance that you go beyond the teachings of the fathers established from above? No, there is nothing unimportant in the Church of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ, and nothing in it is allowed without significance, for it is the Church of the living Word itself. Everything here has a deep meaning. How can one dare to completely despise the statutes at one’s own discretion and make oneself a legislator, destroying them? Don't you know that order is observed in everything as it is written? For God, as the God-speaking Paul says, “God is not a God of disorder, but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33) and order. Don’t you know that the Church observes the order established in Heaven? Do not destroy the high rank, but, on the contrary, support it and be jealous of it as much as you can. Try not only to preserve what you have accepted, but also to multiply what you have accepted with holy rules and decorate it, as our fathers did. Strive for the holy statutes, so that, loving the splendor of the house of the Lord and observing the holy order, you may receive from God a manifold reward. Honor the belongings of the altar above all else, according to their degree, as having a sacred seal, and give them respect by communion of the Holy Mysteries, and by standing before them, and by receiving the antidoron and holy water, and by venerating the venerable icons and the all-holy cross. 330. About unconsecrated persons disorderly entering the altar and about the rite of burial of the dead Only those ordained and chosen to serve the eternal King can enter the altar. And don't let anyone else enter the altar! After them give place to the monks, and after them to the laity. Do not allow people infected with vanity to enter the sacred: by entering senselessly, they bring in their passions and display them near the impassive and divine and not only do not receive sanctification, but deserve condemnation and rejection. For such people want to be partakers of the Divine Mysteries on an equal basis with low and weak people, and, because of their wealth, preside with disdain for the poor and, according to human calculations, exalt themselves with worldly advantages before everyone. But this is not what God chose. “Look, brethren, who you are who are called: not many of you are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble” (1 Cor. 1:26), says the apostle, that is, famous and great men are rare among people, but God did not choose His servants from among them, because such are the concepts of the world, but such are not the thoughts of God. God created one man and from one - all. And in order to shame those who think only about earthly things, “God has chosen,” says the apostle, “the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong; and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, and things that are of no account” (1 Cor. 1:27–28). God chose those who mean nothing and those who think nothing of themselves, in order to abolish those who matter, that is, those who think a lot and are exalted, through humility and truth. “Let no flesh boast before God” (1 Cor. 1:29), let no wise man, or noble, or strong, or rich, say that he arranged our salvation. For He who humbled Himself to the flesh, and became incarnate of a humble but holy Woman, called a carpenter and a carpenter’s son, and condemned even to the Cross, Himself saved us and the world through fishermen, tabernacle workers 23, tax collectors and pagans who believed in Him. So, do not boast about the flesh, no matter who you are, for you are dust, and the more you become rich from the earth, the more corruption you acquire. But knowing that you belong to the laity, and do not have a holy rank, and have not chosen monasticism, humble yourself, and be a true judge, and, not being from the class of priests and monks, come as a layman to the true, immaculate and only Judge. Being a layman, when you pray, look who of the laity is better than you and who is more blameless, for God does not look at faces, look who is more dear to God than you, especially since you can judge this by the royal palaces. For if his friends are close to the king, then the closer his friends will be to God. So, when you sin, come as one who sins and do not approach the monks first, with disdain for them. I have known the noblest people in the world who, being wise in relation to divine things, when they approached the antidor and consecrated water, gave way to simple monks. Do not prefer yourself to the clergy, but remain in the rank in which you are. Sit, stand, and approach the Lord with humility, for “The Lord, it is said, resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). But enough about this rite, adopted in the holy Church in imitation of Heaven, and about reverence for divine things. So, when the deceased is laid to rest, the priest blesses God, and then it is especially necessary to bless the Lord, who brought man to the end of his race, took his soul, and gave his body to the earth, and through death gave us attention to the memory of death, transferred man from this life to another life, eternal, and inflicted punishment, truly, out of love for mankind. And it is especially necessary to bless Him because He, having become incarnate and dying for us, restored and saved us, and will again resurrect and save us, as a Lover of mankind. Therefore, those singing immediately add the corresponding song: “Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me by thy justification” (Ps. 119:12). Then the blameless psalms are read. They are divided into three articles, in the image and glory of the Trinity. These psalms prefigure the Kingdom of the Savior and the life of the saints, which every pious person should lead. During the service of each article, the priests pray and the psalms begin again, while for each verse they say “Hallelujah,” which means “The Lord is coming” and points to His Second Coming, in which He, having appeared, will resurrect all of us who have died. During the service of one article, “Give rest to Thy servant” is proclaimed, and during the other, “Have mercy on me, O Lord,” as if on behalf of the one lying down—the most appropriate and useful prayer. The prayer of the priests is performed in this way. The deacon, having taken the censer, putting incense in it and taking the blessing from the priest, stands at the head of the one lying in the middle of the Church and, censing over the remains, prays for them, brings the censer to God and says loudly: “Let us pray again and again in peace to the Lord,” teaching us through the death that has happened, reconciliation, because we too will die, and that we, having reconciled with each other, pray for the deceased, and at least help in some way I would like him with his prayer, and that there would be peace with him after he was reconciled with God. Then he prays for the repose of the soul of the deceased, for the forgiveness of all his sins, and for the Lord to dwell his soul in the village of the righteous. And everyone unanimously sings the saving prayer “Lord, have mercy.” The deacon also calls on everyone to ask Christ for His mercy to the deceased, the Kingdom of Heaven and the forgiveness of sins. Even before this, the priest secretly offers a prayer to God with reverence and calls Him “the God of spirits,” that is, Angels, and souls, “and all flesh,” that is, people clothed with flesh, calling Him God, “who abolished death through death,” through the Cross, “who trampled down the devil,” and through death, “who gave life to the world.” The priest prays to Him to rest the soul of the deceased in a place of rest, from which all sorrow and sighing have escaped, that is, gone away. He prays to forgive the deceased every sin committed in deed, word and thought, because no one is without sin, except He alone, sinlessly incarnate. He is righteous, and His word is truth, because He is the truth and He said: “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Therefore, the priest, proclaiming this, says, turning to God: “For You are the resurrection,” for we hope that the deceased will live, and will be resurrected, and will find rest in the Lord. So, this is done by reading three articles of the immaculate psalms, and after the immaculate psalms, troparia are read for the deceased, which are most necessary for supplicating God. Then - the Apostle conceived the hope of resurrection; therefore, the Apostle does not call the faithful dead, but fallen asleep, since they will be resurrected. Then - “Hallelujah” as a sign of the Coming of God and as a sermon about the Coming of Christ and about our resurrection from the dead through Him. And - incense, in commemoration of the grace of God, descending on the remains of the deceased, as faithful. And the priest reads the Gospel, which, as if through the Angel of God, precedes our very resurrection. Following this - again a prayer, and after it - a song of kissing. 331. What does the kiss we give to the dead mean? And the last kiss follows. It is given due to the transition and separation from this life and is, as it were, communication and unity, because even when we die we are not separated from each other. For we will all walk the same way, and we will be commanded to be together, and we will never be separated, because we will live in Christ, and now we are united in Christ as we go to Him, and tomorrow we will be together with each other. And when we - the living - die like them and when the resurrection takes place, then we - all believers - will be together with Christ in the communion of the right faith. So, after the kissing is completed, the aforementioned prayer occurs again at the end as a seal with a song, and then - dismissal. 332. What do the words “eternal memory” mean, which are sung at the end of the burial? After the dismissal, “eternal memory” is proclaimed to the deceased, because Saint Dionysius speaks about this, that is, about kissing and proclamation. He says about the kissing that it means the unity in Christ of us, the living, with those who have departed, and about the proclamation - that they, the departed, have been united with the saints and are worthy of their inheritance as well as the faith. And we believe it and sing it. Equally, it is, as it were, a dedication of the deceased to God and our prayer for him. Finally, prayer is, as it were, a gift and the consummation of everything. She sends the deceased to the enjoyment of God and, as it were, betrays to God the soul and body of the departed. Therefore, we come to the tomb with the remains and sing the Trisagion, to the glory of our One God in the Trinity. And we place the remains in a coffin, and with prayer we commit them to the earth, fulfilling the Divine command: “you are earth, and you will go back to earth” (Gen. 3:19). We also proclaim the resurrection, marking the remains with a cross, or pouring oil on them from a lamp in a cross shape, or throwing earth on them with the help of some instrument, because, although we have become mortal, we will nevertheless be resurrected through Christ, who became incarnate for us, who died and rose again, and who gave us the resurrection. In the same way, the one who is now being buried will rise again, just as our Savior rose from the dead. Therefore, even after the position of the coffin, oil is poured over it in a cross shape, as the apostles commanded and as Dionysius writes about this. It is better to anoint the deceased when preparing for burial, for in baptism water and oil are used, so in the same way it is necessary to perform washing and anointing on those who have died in faith and piety. Therefore, the remains are wiped crosswise with a sponge and water: on the forehead, in the eyes, on the lips and chest, as well as on the knees and hands, and anointed with oil. Oil serves as a sign of deeds and the fact that the deceased died after glorious and pious deeds and that he will be awarded Divine mercy and the bright joy of the Divine Light. 333. Why are only twelve bows due for the dead? At the time when the earth is thrown, a prayer is read, which has the meaning of thanksgiving on behalf of the one devoted to the earth, and on the other hand, it constitutes, as it were, a seal and the end of everything. After everyone has made twelve bows before God for the deceased, in propitiation for his life, which is distributed over twelve hours of the day and twelve hours of the night, everyone departs from the tomb, each thinking about his own destiny, although for some this thought serves as a source of sorrow. Prayers for the deceased continue in the evenings and in the mornings. Then they do everything that is required according to the order, but they are primarily concerned that the Bloodless Sacrifice be offered, nothing more beneficial for the deceased, and nothing else can serve as a source of joy and enlightenment, and unity with God, on a par with this sacred act, in which the very Blood of the Lord is shed for us, the indecent, and the Divine Body is sacrificed. This Sacrifice, both the relatives of the deceased in the flesh, and those united with him in spirit and by the power of union in the Spirit, who love him more than his relatives in the flesh, offer constantly and daily throughout the whole year and throughout his entire life. And the more often they bring it, the more benefits they deliver and receive. For what is more beneficial than the sacrifice of Christ for us? Some do this when they can and wish, while others do it every day, at least for forty days. 334. That the most sacred sacrifice is most beneficial for the dead One of the holy fathers, namely Gregory, Pope of Rome, who wrote the “Conversation” 24, freed a certain brother from torment by making this sacrifice for him for forty days. And that this sacrifice is wonderfully beneficial for many and that it liberates from the bonds of death is shown by many miracles that have happened and been recorded. 335. About koliva brought for the deceased On the third day after repose, thirds are performed, wheat seeds and various other fruits are brought to God. What do these fruits mean? The fact that man is a seed and, as it were, a fruit from the earth, and that he, like wheat thrown into the ground, will rise again by the power of God and, as if grown and blossomed, in the next century will appear to Christ perfect and alive. For just as a previously lying seed is buried in the ground, and then grows and bears abundant fruit, so a person, having been consigned to death to the earth, will rise again. Paul speaks about this when he explains the mystery of the resurrection through the image of the seed (1 Cor. 15:36–38). Some believe that we perform this fruit offering in memory of the miracle of the victorious martyr Theodore. No, not only for this reason, although this is the work of God and from God, but more, as we said, according to the word of Paul, who compares the seeds to our bodies, which will both be destroyed and resurrected, being more precious than the seeds. Therefore, we offer not only wheat, but also many other seeds, and wine from the fruit of the vine, because it is the fruit of the tree and, together with the bread, was chosen for the sacrifice of Christ. We bring this also in memory of the saints, because they too are holy fruit, and their divine remains, consigned to the earth, will be resurrected in Christ. Mostly and more often than other seeds, grains of wheat are brought, for the Savior likened His All-Holy Body to wheat. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone” (John 12:24). From here he also took the image for teaching about His rising from the dead: “and if he dies, he will bear much fruit” 25. Do you see why we offer wheat? Moreover, all true bread is made from wheat. That is why the only true and living Bread, Christ, called himself the bread of life (John 6:48). I think this is precisely for the reason that from the beginning bread was given so that the Mysteries could be performed on wheat bread. Tretina, detiatina and other commemorations are performed primarily for the glory of the Trinity, because from Her is our existence and life, and from Her, after the death that befalls us in due time, is an appeal to new life. Some, however, say that this is instituted in accordance with the birth of a person, because on the third day after the seed is received by the mother’s womb, a baby is formed; on the ninth day it thickens, and on the fortieth day it receives life and begins to ripen. In the third month he makes movements; on the sixth he becomes perfect, and on the ninth he is born. They also do yearly daily commemorations, because in the third month after birth the child begins to reveal the presence of feelings and grows little by little. Also because a person changes every year and every three years, especially when the third three years begins, that is, at seven years. Because man is a complex being and his development does not fully correspond to the threefold trinity. For this makes nine - the number of the angelic ranks, which, as incorporeal, spiritual, and eternally living beings, more perfectly depict the Holy Trinity than we do with this very number: three times three make nine. And for us, complex beings, life is seven-dimensional, and its dimensions are seven-dimensional. After a week of years we reach the third trinity, being created in our mind, word and spirit in the image of God. Therefore, the commemorations that are accepted: thirds and others - indicate and proclaim the Trinity and the truth that from Her is everything that is ours: both life and salvation. These thoughts, of course, are good, because both our birth and existence are from God, and all these thoughts have in mind His glory. But it is more consistent with the spirit of the Church to understand everything spiritually and divinely and not to connect the institutions of the Church with sensual things. Thus, bringing the deceased to the church indicates that he was created by God and after death is brought to God. 336. Why are thirds, nines, forties and other commemorations performed? Tretinas are performed in order to show that the deceased received being from the Trinity and that he passed into a blessed life, returning to his original, or even better, state. Nine - so that his immaterial spirit is related to the holy spirits - the Angels, to whom he is similar in nature, and who are divided into nine ranks, and thus triplely proclaim and glorify God in the Trinity. And at the same time - so that the deceased unites with the souls of all the saints. Fortieth day - in honor of the Ascension of the Savior, which took place on the fortieth day after the resurrection, so that the deceased, having risen, would ascend, as it were, caught up in the clouds, and appear before the Judge, and thus would always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17). In the same way, the third, sixth and ninth months proclaim the Trinity - the God of all, and are dedicated to glorifying Him for the deceased, because man received being from the Trinity, and returns to Her, freed from the body, and from Her again expects resurrection. And the commemorations performed at the end of the year clearly preach this by the triple number of months, being also performed as a sign of the perfection there, since the Trinity - our God - is the life of everything and the reason for being. She will raise up everyone and renew human nature. 337. Why do we annually commemorate those who have departed? The commemoration is performed annually by relatives as a sign that the dead are alive and immortal in soul and will one day be completely renewed when the Creator desires and raises them up with their bodies. It is this that those who perform the commemoration signify by bringing seeds, reminding that just as Christ, having died in the flesh, was resurrected and alive, so we, according to the word of Paul, will be resurrected and “will be alive” in Him (Rom. 6:8). And the fact that Christ is risen and alive is evidenced by His deeds and the Sacrifice, which is offered to Him for everyone as He is alive, and is performed as He commanded. So, commemoration at the named dates occurs, as we said, for the reasons stated above, and the benefit that comes from this for those who have departed has been revealed and revealed to many saints. That is why these commemorations must be performed with the greatest possible zeal, especially the most terrible Sacrifice, because that is why it was given. For for the prayers and supplications performed here, through sacred sacrifices and charity, the poor are given remission and remission of sins and liberation from torment to those who sinned and left their bodies in repentance, and those who lived righteously and had a good and godly end are granted greater purification and exaltation, as Chrysostom believes in his explanation of the Acts of the Apostles, such are granted closeness to God and boldness before Him, abundant enlightenment from the light of God. Let every faithful remember that if he loves his neighbor, who has already died, he will provide him with great benefits by offering a Sacrifice for him and will be the cause of great joy for him, giving alms to the poor, ransoming captives and performing other deeds with which God is propitiated. Especially if he diligently makes bloodless Sacrifice for him. The particle taken out during the terrible Sacrifice, and the remembrance of the departed over it, unites the latter with God and gives him the opportunity to invisibly be a partaker of God and have communion with Him. Receiving the greatest benefit from this, not only those brethren in Christ who repent in repentance are consoled and saved, but also the sacred and God-loving souls of the saints receive great joy when these sacrifices are made for them. And they rejoice in joy for the sake of this most holy Sacrifice, uniting more closely with Christ, and becoming partakers of the highest purity and light, and most sincerely partaking of His Gifts. They pray for us, because for this reason Christ performed and commanded this Sacrifice - for the sanctification and enlightenment of all, and so that everyone would be one with Him, for which He prayed (John 17:11). That is why for those who remember them and perform the most sacred sacrifices in honor and memory of them, those who have departed constantly pray and become intercessors and prayer books, asking that those living on earth achieve the same communion with Christ. So, we need to remember our deceased brothers, so that others will remember us. It is also necessary, if possible, to make sacrifices for the saints, so that, by consoling them in Christ, we have in them joyful intercessors before Christ and through their prayers we receive salvation. “So, you, saint, explained everything to us and gave us careful instructions, revealed what relates to our death, gave us careful instructions, showed us everything that is useful and saving for us, and outlined the right faith. What will we reward you for your love? – Let us give thanks to the One God in the Trinity, who prompted us to question, and who gave you a word that exceeds our desire. May your reward be great from the Lord and, since it comes from God, varied. - Let us give thanks, brothers, and glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One in the Trinity of our God, who gave “the word by the opening of the mouth” (Eph. 6:19), in whose hope we dared to speak about these things, higher and divine, surpassing our strength. This is God's gift, and specifically for you, and not for me, if only I said something useful. For I do not think at all, although I wish to speak the truth, that I said something useful, and valuable, and serving for the good, since I know the poverty and weakness of my mind and my ignorance in some respects, although I do not completely find myself dark. If someone asks: why did you state this in this case? - then I will answer: for the sake of love and the frequent questions of the brothers. I will answer that, to the best of my ability, I did not write my own, but collected what the Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers say and what could be extracted from their God-enlightened thoughts. So, if in what has been said there is anything suitable and useful, thanks be to God, because it is not ours, but belongs to the divine scriptures and the holy fathers and was done for the sake of you, who very often questioned us, and for the sake of some other of the brothers, who at times encouraged us to do this. And you will receive a greater reward for the fact that you gave the reason to do this and opened my poor, earth-loving, and humble mind through your humility and questioning, animated by love for God in the Trinity and goodness. May He make what was said useful for you and beneficial for all brothers, and may He turn it to His glory and to our salvation through His love for mankind and goodness, since only in hope of Him did I dare to touch on what was above me, and set forth what I was able to set forth, out of love for Him. May all this be for His glory and for the salvation of us, the humble, since we dedicated it to Him - the One God in the Trinity - through the prayers of the Ever-Virgin and Most Holy Theotokos, God-pleasing and holy Angels, God-preachers - the blessed apostles, God-bearing and all-holy hierarchs, the good-victorious martyrs, the reverend and the righteous, and everyone from eternity to the end the age of His holy servants. To Him belongs all glory, majesty and splendor, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God in the Trinity, the one nature, power and strength in three indivisible and unmerged Persons, always, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Grigory Dvoeslov. Interviews about the life of the Italian fathers and the immortality of the soul. You might be interested in: