О богослужебных книгах

The divine services of the Orthodox Church are performed according to liturgical books. Priests and clergymen during divine services and all those taking part in the performance of divine services must recite prayers, except for short ones, not from memory, but from liturgical books. They must become familiar with the rules of worship, have a clear understanding of liturgical books, must become familiar with the names of prayers, chants, and readings contained in them, get used to understanding the instructions of the church charter (Typikon) on them, and be able to find in the liturgical books what is prescribed for singing and reading on certain days. Knowledge of the rules of worship is acquired mainly in a practical way. But just as with any experimental study of a matter, a knowledgeable leader helps in the execution of the work, so the acquisition of knowledge of church rules can be helped by guidance, and above all on liturgical books. To get acquainted with them more successfully, you should start with what is simpler and known, and then move on to the more complex and little-known. The very first necessary knowledge is to know how many services are performed daily and what their composition is. Then, clearly indicate the contents of the liturgical books. During the day, three services are supposed to be performed: a) evening, b) morning and c) around noon. Each of these services consists, most of the year, of three services. The evening service consists of the services: ninth hour, vespers, compline; morning - services: midnight office, matins, first hour; Divine services around noon consist of services: third hour, sixth hour, liturgy. Services are held in this order except on Sundays and holidays. On Sundays and holidays, services are performed in a slightly different order. Then the so-called all-night vigil is celebrated. Over a period of time (an hour or two), the ninth hour, Vespers, which is called Little, and Compline are celebrated. Later, in the evening (and sometimes at night), there is an all-night vigil. It consists of Vespers, called Great, Matins and the first hour. Around noon then the third hour, sixth hour and liturgy take place. During Lent, services are performed in a slightly different order (which can be seen in special tables). Each of the nine services mentioned (vespers, compline, midnight office, matins, hours - first, third, sixth, ninth and liturgy) consists of three types of prayers, in other words, three types of services. Firstly, prayers (services from them) belong to the time of day - evening, morning, and so on. Prayer books contain thanksgivings, petitions, and memories corresponding to the time of day at which the prayer books are said. So, at Vespers, thanksgiving is said for the past day, the events that took place in the evening are remembered - the creation of the world, etc., at Matins, prayers contain petitions for the coming day, the events of the morning are remembered - the appearance of the Lord in the flesh, and so on. Prayer books belonging to a certain time of day - towards the evening, towards the morning - are unchanged at every service. So, at every Vespers there are psalms: “Bless the Lord, my soul,” “I have cried to the Lord”; at every matins there is a great litany, etc. and these prayers are called immutable. Secondly, in each of the above-mentioned nine services (vespers, compline, midnight office, matins, hours 1, 3, 6 and 9 and liturgy) there are prayers (services from them) belonging to the days of the week - Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc. In the prayers of some days of the week, the events that took place during these days of the week are remembered: on Sunday - the resurrection of the Lord, on Friday - His death on the cross. In the prayers of other days, the memory of the holy saints of God is performed or prayer is offered for the dead. The prayers of the days of the week change with each day of the week. Thirdly, in each of the above-mentioned services (vespers, compline, midnight office, matins, hours 1, 3, 6 and 9 and liturgy) there are prayers (services from them) belonging to the days of the year, to the numbers of months, to the days of Great Lent, Easter, etc. in the prayers of the days of the year, events are remembered that happened on those days of the year on which the service is performed, or the memory of saints is celebrated, or prayers are contained for the departed. These prayers change every day of the year. So, in the same nine services (vespers, compline, etc.) there are prayers of three kinds: firstly, related to the time of day, secondly - to the day of the week, thirdly - to the day of the year. After 24 hours, the prayers (services from them) again follow in the same order. The same prayers repeated every day constitute a kind of circle, a daily circle of prayers. Likewise, after the week, the prayers (services from them) belonging to the days of the week follow in the same order and form a seven-day circle, and after a year, the prayers (services from them) relating to the days of the year follow in the same order and form an annual circle. The prayers of the daily, weekly and annual circles are in connection with each other. Just as each hour of the day belongs to the day of the week and the day of the year, and each day of the year consists of the days of the week and the hours of the day, so the services of the daily circle contain the services of the days of the week and the services of the days of the year. For example, at Sunday, as at every Vespers, the psalm “I have cried to the Lord” is sung, and with it, from the weekly service, the Sunday stichera are combined, and from the annual service, the stichera for the saint who is celebrated on the day on which the service is performed. By the very fact that the service of the daily circle is connected with the services of the weekly and annual circles, and in these services - the weekly and annual circle - there are services: a) more and less solemn, b) penitential services and c) services for the repose, then the services of the daily circle, in accordance with the prayers of the weekly and annual circles, are performed in accordance with the services of the weekly and annual circles and have their own modifications. So, Vespers is: a) small, b) daily, c) great; Compline: a) great and b) small; Midnight Office: a) daily, b) Saturday, c) Sunday; Matins: a) not festive, b) with great doxology, c) with polyeleos; hours: a) daily, b) Lenten, c) royal, d) Easter; liturgy: a) St. John Chrysostom, b) St. Basil the Great, c) presanctified Gifts. Each type of these services contains its own unchanging, constant prayers. Therefore, some unchangeable prayers are found in all types of services, while others are found only in one type of service. For example, the psalm “I cried to the Lord” is contained in all vespers - small, daily and great; The Great Litany occurs at all matins. Other unchangeable prayers occur only in one type of well-known service. For example, only at Great Vespers there is an entrance and after the entrance the litany “Have mercy on us, O God.” The singing of the polyeleos occurs only at the matins at which the reading of the Gospel is supposed to take place. In accordance with the indicated composition of the nine daily services, the prayers themselves are set out in liturgical books. Some liturgical books contain prayer books for public worship, which is performed daily in the church according to the instructions of the church charter (Typikon), which for all days of the year appoints services and prayers for them and the time for their performance. Other liturgical books contain prayers for private worship (for services), which are performed at the request, need of one or several persons and at such a time as is indicated for the most part by the circumstances of their lives. The third service books contain prayers and readings for both services. To perform private worship, fewer liturgical books are required than for public worship. The main book for private worship is Trebnik 3, which contains in a row almost everything that is said at the service by the priest, deacon and reader. For example, when performing the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, marriage, etc. According to the same book - the Trebnik - the priest reads prayers, the deacon pronounces litanies, and the reader sings hymns. There are more books for public worship, namely: the Service Book, the Book of Hours, the Octoechos, the Monthly Menaion, the General, the Lenten Triodion, the Colored Triodion, the Irmologion, the Typikon. The Service Book and the Book of Hours - both books contain the rites of observance and the services of public worship themselves with those prayers that are constantly or more often than others read or sung during public worship of the daily circle; both of these books contain the unchangeable, constant prayers of all services of daily public worship - Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, Liturgy and Hours. The Missal contains prayers said in these divine services by the priest and deacon, and in the Book of Hours - by the reader and singers. Prayer books for the seven-day circle, which change with each day of the week, prayer books for the annual circle, which change with each day of the month, also during Lent, on Easter and after it - all these prayer books, which change, are found in the books - Octoechos, Menaions, Triodions. The Octoechos contains services with variable prayers for the moving days of worship of the seven-day circle - for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The monthly Menaion contains services with variable prayers for the fixed days of worship of the annual circle, that is, for all 12 months. The Lenten Triodion contains services with modified prayers for the worship of those moving days of the annual circle that make up the preparation for Great Lent and Great Lent itself. The Colored Triodion contains services with modified prayers for the worship of those moving days of the yearly circle, which begin on Easter Day and end with the week (resurrection) of All Saints. The Irmologion contains for the moving and fixed days of worship those prayers, changeable and some unchangeable, which are designated by the Orthodox Church for singing (and not for reading) during worship. The contents of the Irmologion are mainly extracted from various liturgical books. The book Typikon, or Charter, can be called an administrative book. It contains instructions on what days and hours, during what divine services and in what order the prayers found in the Service Book, Book of Hours and especially in the Octoechos, Menaions and Triodions should be offered. There are special books that contain mainly readings from the Holy Scriptures; these books include: the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter. These books relate to public and private worship.