Walking of the Patriarch of Constantinople to draw lots in the week of Vai in the 9th-10th centuries.

The rite of “vai action” or “walking of the patriarch or metropolitan to the donkeys in the week of Vai” was used in Rus' in the 16th and 17th centuries. wide popularity. This rite was performed in Moscow, Novgorod, Vologda, Smolensk, Astrakhan, Tobolsk and other cathedral churches. Our ritualists and historians traced the origins of this rank - some from Jerusalem (Prot. K. T. Nikolsky), others from Byzantium (Academician E. E. Golubinsky, Prof. N. F. Krasnoseltsev, etc.), but none of them gave a positive solution to this important issue, pinning their hopes on the happy discovery of its Greek original in the future. Now this hope can be considered fulfilled: the Greek ritual of the patriarch’s procession on the week of Vai on the lot in Constantinople and, moreover, in the era of the 9th and 10th centuries, which was significant for Russian history, has been found. In the handwritten Prax-Apostle of Dresden, b. Royal Library of the 9th–10th centuries. No. 140, this order 1 is stated as follows: “At the end of Matins on Palm Sunday, the patriarch rests for some time in the mutatorium, located next to the altar of the St. Sophia Church. At this time, the next clergy, taking with him a large lithium cross, which usually stands behind the throne, but this time not openly, as it is carried in litanies, but in a case (μετἀ τῆς θήκης), goes to the church of 40 martyrs to prepare everything necessary for meeting the patriarch there. Anyone who wants to be present at the meeting of the patriarch follows them. At a certain hour, the patriarch, dressed in bishop's clothes, having in one hand a large life-giving cross, and in the other a date palm and fronds entwined with fragrant flowers, such as the given time allows, leaves the church and, covering his head with a veil (τὸ περιπτάριον), sits on a horse, while the singers sing on the pulpit troparion “General Resurrection”, and goes (ὀχούμενος ἐπὶ πώλῳ or ἁνέρχεται μετὰ τοῦ πώλου) to the church of 40 martyrs. Patriarchal archons, bishops and clergy with choristers in phelonions (short lithiums), carrying in their hands date palms, fronds and crosses, which the sakkelia prepares for them, walk on foot ahead of the horse on which the patriarch sits (τῶν ἄλλων πάντων πεζῶν μετὰ φελωνίων ὀψικευόντων or προπορευομένων ἔμπροσθεν) with the singing of the troparion of the holiday. Upon the arrival of the patriarch to the church of the 40 martyrs, he performs the reading of the established prayer, consecration of the branches and distribution of them to all the people present at this majestic celebration. Having distributed the vai, after the deacon has pronounced the usual litany, the patriarch washes his hands (νίπσεται), enters the altar, and performs the usual censing of St. meals and blessings with candles, while singing many years (ἡ φήμη). At this time, the litany for the forum to the column of St. is being prepared in the usual manner. Constantine, at the head of which marches the cross of St. Constantine, sent here in advance for the litany. At the column of St. Constantine, the gospel is read by the patriarch, the litany of a litany character is pronounced by the archdeacon, and, when the kontakion of the holiday is sung by the singers, the litany is directed to St. Sofia, where the patriarch celebrates the liturgy, at the end of which the participants in the celebration are invited to dinner with the patriarch.” The monument we are analyzing undoubtedly establishes the fact of its existence in the 9th–10th centuries. in Constantinople, the rite of “procession on the lot”, following the example of the savior, 2 ecumenical patriarchs to the church of 40 martyrs, accompanied by the clergy and singers holding in their hands fronds, date palms and metal crosses - small and large, with the singing of the troparion of the holiday. But the same monument allows us to deepen the time of the formation of this rite in the Church of Constantinople. The manuscript, which contains the text of the rite, as we outlined it above, at the end notes that it sets out this rite κατὰ τὴν νῦν συνήθειαν, according to the current custom, while its previous order was κατὰ τὴν πρώτην συνήθειαν, it was different, and the patriarch made a procession on the drawing of lots not to the church of the 40 martyrs, but to the martyrium of St. Tryphon near Hamund and from there to the martyrium of St. Romana in Elevikha and, finally, to the forum of St. Konstantin. It is difficult to say for sure what reasons caused these changes in the ritual of the week of Vaii, but, in all likelihood, its complexity and the remoteness of the named points from St. Sofia and the forum are the reasons for this. But it was necessary, of course, to have time to recognize the inconvenience of this second direction in the procession of the patriarch on the lot for the consecration of the tree. In view of this, it is possible with complete certainty to date this ritual according to the time of its formation in Constantinople in the 9th century. Moving now to our ritual of the procession of the first hierarch of the Russian Church on a donkey on Vai week and leaving aside for now the question of the time of his transition to the Russian Church in the pre-Mongol period, which Academician B.B. hesitantly expresses. Golubinsky in his “History of the Russian Church,” 3 which is not at all contradicted by the date of the establishment of the rite in Byzantium, we intend here to indicate the similarities and differences in the Byzantine and Russian rites. There are relatively few similarities, but this can be explained by the fact that we have monuments that are not identical in time: we have Slavic-Russian monuments of the rank of “vai actions” not earlier than the 16th century, but for most of the 17th century, and moreover, in full statutory and independent expositions in separate collections, while the Byzantine rank is in a manuscript of the 10th–11th centuries and, moreover, with the practice of a brief statutory exposition. But all the more valuable are those special features of them that the researcher can dwell on with full interest. Their main similarity is that the whole ritual is divided into two parts in both monuments: from St. Sophia, the Patriarch marched on the lot only to the Church of the 40 Martyrs, and from here to the Forum of St. Constantine and back to St. Sofia on foot, according to the order of the usual litanies. According to the Slavic-Russian rite - in a more ancient version, the patriarch rides on a donkey to the Church of the Entrance of Jerusalem, and from there he also walks to the “place of execution”, and in the same way returns to the Assumption Cathedral. On the place of execution, which replaced the forum of St. in the ritual. Constantine, according to our rite, the same lithium prayer service is performed, which was practiced at the column of St. Constantine in Constantinople. According to both rites, the procession rite takes place between Matins and Liturgy. Both patriarchs, both Constantinople and Russian, upon arrival - the first to the Church of the 40 Martyrs, and the second to the Entrance of Jerusalem, both make a solemn entry into the altar of these churches for the incense of St. throne. You can also see small points of similarity in both ranks. But the differences in the same ranks are simply astounding. Our Russian rite is strictly ecclesiastical in nature. The litany is preceded by St. cross and icons. The very transformation of a foal into a donkey with the help of a blanket undoubtedly pursued the desire to make our ritual as touching and touching as possible. The Constantinople rite takes on the character of a semi-church spectacle, where all the attention of the pilgrims is occupied by the patriarch, majestically seated on a lot with the clergy preceding him. The lithium cross and gospel litany are received only in the church of the 40 martyrs, where they were sent in advance in cases (μετὰ τῆς θήκης). But the biggest feature is the complete absence of a king in the Byzantine rite. At that time, as the Russian Tsar, according to the fathers of the Council of 1678, in this rite “favored in it, showing for the sake of the Orthodox people the image of his humility and submission before Christ the Lord, for the all-humble custom was accepted, hedgehog the patriarch on the lot, in memory of the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem, to humble his royal height with his sceptre-red hands touch the bridle of that donkey, and so leading even to the church,” 4 the Byzantine emperor on the great twelfth holiday of “Vaiy Week” or “the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem,” not only did not participate in the procession of the patriarch at the drawing of lots, but was not present at the patriarchal service in St. Sofia, remaining all day within the walls of her palace and in the circle of her closest courtiers. “The Ritualist,” better known in science under the name “De ceremoniis aulae Byzantinae,” attributed, it seems, without sufficient grounds, to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, devotes two entire chapters to this day – 31 and 32 and depicts the life of this involuntary prisoner of this bottom with very interesting features. The internal celebrations of Vai week in the palace began with the Saturday of righteous Lazarus. The emperor distributes elegant vayas in the palace church of St. to the synclite and the most important ranks of the court. Demetrius, and the rest of the ranks of small and large silver crosses, used in litanies and is present at vespers in the palace church of Our Lady of Fara, and then at the litany, which is performed by the palace clergy and ranks of the cuvuklia, he distributes φοίνικας μεγάλας. Early in the morning, as soon as Papias opens the gates of the palace to the triclinium of Justinian, the orphanotroph (the head of the orphanages) appears, who brings a vaya (τὰ σύμβολα) for all the courtiers, οἰ εξ ιθους λαμβάνουσιν, and Dimarchs with crosses for the same purpose. The emperor, dressed in festive attire, comes out in chrysotricline, sits on the throne and gives the sign to the preposite to begin the reception. The orphanotroph is introduced into the throne room by the ostiary and master of ceremonies, holding in his right hand τὸ τῆς πίστεως σύμβολον (in the “Ritualist” his expression is repeated twice, but this is undoubtedly an error either in the manuscript or in its publisher, Reiske), and holding a whole bunch on his left shoulder τὰ σύμβολα. The orphanotroph makes three bows from the waist, οὐ πίπτων βάτω τελείως, and, without falling on his face, hands it over to the emperor, kissing his hand τὸ τὴς πίςτεως, i.e. νίκης 5, σύμβολον. The Emperor, having risen from the throne and accepted it, kisses the Vaia and hands them over to the preposite standing next to him. Having handed over the remaining τὰ σύμβολα, the emperor, the orphanotroph bows to him and, without showing him his back, retreats to his place, and then leaves the hall. The second rank (τὸ βῆλον) is introduced. The sacellary of the St. Sophia Church, having in his hand a large cross for the emperor, on his left shoulder many silver large and small crosses used in litany, hands them over to the emperor in the same order as the orphanotroph, and, prostrating himself before the emperor, leaves. This is followed by the third rank. The skeuophilax of the Blachernae church and the hartullarius of the chapel next to it present their crosses to the emperor in honor of the belt of the Mother of God. This was followed by the reception of the xenodochi, the heads of the host homes and care homes for the poor and elderly, with their crosses, in the amount of 6 people. The reception of the Democrites τῶν περάτων took place in the fifth rank, after the xenodoc of the Samsonev almshouse. In the eleventh rank, the city dimarchs (οἱ δήμαρχοι τῆς πολιτικῆς) with their crosses were also awarded reception. Everyone was received, as was the orphanotroph, and their crosses were handed over to the preposit. From the king, all the named persons immediately went to the empress and presented her with the described ceremony the same offerings, i.e. τὰ σύμβολα and τοὺς σταυρούς. The emperor, having finished this reception, gives orders to the preposit, and he to the master of ceremonies, to prepare for the reception court officials of all classes and, going out to the lavsikium, distributes to them the crosses received, according to their official position, after which all officials go to the chrysotriclinum, placing themselves there in the places indicated to them. The emperor, having finished distributing the crosses, marches to the chrysotricline. He is greeted by a litany of Our Lady Fara coming out to meet him from the church of Our Lady, performed by the court clergy of this church, with the singing of the troparion “General Resurrection”. A lithium candle is given to the king, and all those present in the palace light the candles and, holding crosses and vayas in their hands, set themselves up in order to follow the clergy and the emperor. The litany is performed inside the palace according to the palace churches, according to the accepted rite, with the emperor entering the church of Our Lady in Daphne to light a candle and censing in the altar, and in skevophilakia in front of three crosses with the tree of the Lord, and in the church of St. Stephen, and again returns to the throne room, where a festive litany is performed with the reading of the Gospel and the recitation of the litany. At the end of it, the emperor dismisses lower-ranking officials and goes with the highest officials to the liturgy at the Church of Our Lady of Fara. With this intimate retinue, the emperor, at the end of the liturgy, sat down on this day for his “honest” meal. Thus, the Byzantine emperor, elevated by fate to the throne of a powerful kingdom, intoxicated with his power, before which everyone and everyone fell on their faces, valuing their prestige, did not want to descend from the height on which he stood and take second place, even if for one day or several hours, giving way to the head of the Orthodox Church - the patriarch - the primacy and attention of his subjects, who undoubtedly treated this rare majestic spectacle with keen interest. The Byzantine emperor in this case portrayed himself as a prisoner in the palace and a ruler indifferent to what his capital was like and how the hearts of his subjects beat. But life often, contrary to all the most prudent calculations, creates such collisions that there is no way to avoid them. And in the life of the Byzantine emperor, this collision would have to play out, and the emperor, willy-nilly, would have to come out of his involuntary seclusion, leave the palace and appear on the streets of Constantinople. We mean a rare, but periodically recurring event - this is the confluence of the holidays of Palm Sunday with the Annunciation. According to long-established court etiquette, on the feast of the Annunciation, the emperor always unacceptably made a magnificent entrance to the liturgy at the Chalcopratian church, which was celebrating its church holiday, and, at the end of it, gave lunch to the clergy and officials of the court in the palace near this church. The emperor could not, even with the indicated confluence, avoid the exit strictly determined by etiquette. “De сeremoniis” or “Ritualist” provides for this case and gives instructions in such words that say nothing: τῇ προελεύσαι τοῦ εὐαγγελισμου ἐπὶ λεπτῷ ἐξεθέμεθα. 6 Obviously, the link directs the reader's attention to chapter 30. “The Ritualist”, which really describes the coincidence of the Feast of the Annunciation with the Sunday of the Cross. But it would be in vain that he would look there for an explanation of how on Vai week the emperor met with the patriarch at the feast of the Annunciation in the Chalcopratia Church, and whether on that day the ritual of the patriarch’s procession on the lot from the St. Sophia Church was performed. “De ceremoniis” remains completely silent on this matter. The answer to this curious question is given to us by a monument of the 10th–11th centuries, the Typikon of the Great Church, in such a short phrase, when presenting the indicated coincidence of holidays: Ὡσαύτως ἑὰν ἐςτὶν ὁ βασιλεύς (Rkp., Drezd. bib. l. 165). So, the king was undoubtedly at the festival in the Chalcopratia church and performed everything that the court’s established ceremonial prescribed for him. Naturally, the question now arises: how did the meeting between the emperor and the patriarch take place, in what place and how did the emperor avoid the need to participate in the ritual of the patriarch’s procession to the casting of lots? The court camarilla, having cleverly dissociated the tsar from the patriarch in “The Ritualist” and completely ignored the latter on the day of the Vai week, undoubtedly helped him get out of the difficulties of the conflict that had arisen, at the indicated confluence of holidays. The compliant and helpful Patriarchs of Constantinople met the court camarilla halfway and provided them with the opportunity to avoid all kinds of complications in the “Ritualist”, when setting out the ceremonial for that day. To please the emperor, so that his prestige and high idea of ​​imperial absolutism would not suffer, it was decided to sacrifice some features of the church solemn litany and give the rite of the procession on the patriarch's lot the character of a semi-church ceremony. The cross and the gospel are sent μετά τῆς θήκησ in advance to the church of the 40 martyrs and in the procession on the lot on the feast of the Annunciation, the solemn festive litany of the Annunciation from the Sophia to the Chalcopratia church is canceled from year to year. As for the emperor, as can be seen from the Typikon of the Great Church, on this day he did everything that was required, according to the “Ritual Book,” in the palace (in Chapters XXXI and XXXII “De ceremoniis”) and listened to the liturgy in the Church of Our Lady in Daphne, which obviously also had this church holiday. Then, when the procession of the patriarch on the lot from the Church of St. Sophia to the Church of the 40 Martyrs ended, and the patriarch distributed the vaiah, the emperor with the archons of the cuvuklia and other natural ranks, with the singing of the troparion of the holiday, left the palace and, passing St. Sofia, went to the church of 40 martyrs. From here, having united with the patriarch in the established order, he went with him on foot in litany to the forum of St. Constantine, and then, returning to the Chalcopratian church, he made the usual small entrance with the patriarch and listened to the liturgy, after which he dined with the patriarch and his officials in the palace close to the church. Thus, possible conflicts and roughnesses between the emperor and the patriarch were settled and eliminated in Byzantium. Thus, the Byzantine emperor never took part in the ritual of the patriarch casting lots in the week of Vai - and this constitutes a major difference from the same ritual in our Rus'. Consequently, the fathers of the Council of 1678 were right when they said that in Rus' the presence of the tsar in the ritual of the patriarch’s procession on the donkey “for the sake of the crown bearers’ piety will be abdicated” “and from other countries (i.e., besides Moscow) it does not seem very decent to be.” 7 Therefore, as soon as an autocrat appeared on the Russian throne with a different view and attitude towards Russian ritual and the piety of the people, with different convictions and views on his rights and advantages and on the attitude of the supreme power and the head of the Russian church - the patriarch, the Russian Tsar and Autocrat Peter I not only did not participate in this ritual, but completely abolished it, and soon replaced the patriarchal rule in 1722 synodal In the liturgical drama, at present, only the question of the origin of two “actions” remains unresolved: the very interesting and dramatically described in the monuments of the divine service, the rite of “washing of the feet”, performed on Maundy Thursday 8, and the rite of the “action of the Last Judgment” on the week of meat-eating. For its Greek text with variants and translation, see my book “The Ancient Patriarchal Typicons, the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem and the Great Church of Constantinople” Kiev 1907, pp. 110–111. Matthew 11:2,4; Mark 19:30,35. T. I, half II, p. 371. Acts of the architect. exp. Vol. IV, No. 223. See the holiday troparion: φέροντες, σοὶ τῷ Νικητῇ τοῦ θανάτου βοῶμεν· Ὁσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν Ὀνόματι Κυρίου. De ceremonies, cap. XXXII, page 176. Acts of the architect. exp. Vol. IV, No. 228. RKP. XIV–XV centuries former Moscow patriarch librarian No. 371 (675) sheet 18 vol.; RKP. XVI century former Solovets. You might be interested in: