And therefore, at the end of the kathismas, as if at the approach of a solemn moment, all the church lamps are lit again and the royal doors are opened with the bright illumination of the sanctuary of God. The clergy majestically proclaims the polyeleos verses: Praise the Name of the Lord, praise the servant of the Lord! Alleluia, which once resounded from the vaults of the Old Testament Temple of Jerusalem; - the celebrant, preceded by a deacon with a candle, fills the altar with incense and then walks around the entire church with a censer, spreading light and fragrance everywhere.
The abundance of church light, as well as the candle in the hands of the deacon, together with the incense of the censer, depict here, firstly, that bright cloud, which, having filled the entire temple of Solomon, during the consecration, led those present into awe and forced them to even temporarily interrupt the Divine service; and secondly, and most importantly, the One Whom this cloud represented, that is, the Only Begotten Son of God, Who is the radiance of the glory of the Father and the Image of His Hypostasis (Heb. 1:3). The abundance of incense depicts: the many sacrifices offered in the Jerusalem Temple, which served as a prototype of the New Testament spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, by Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5).
Following the polyeleos verses, the Sunday Troparions are sung: The Council of Angels in Wonder, etc., or the magnification in honor of the Lord or the celebrated Saints, or, finally, the festive antiphons: From my youth, etc., which are reminiscent of the anciently called Power Psalms, which were sung by the children of the Old Testament Church, entering the 15 steps into the sanctuary Jerusalem Temple, because at this time the Church, preparing for the reading of the Holy Gospel, as if by steps, raises the spirit of believers to the height of the Word of God.
Then the Gospel is read at the altar, and on Sundays it is taken to the middle of the church for general worship and kissing. And just as from the day of the consecration of the Temple of Jerusalem and the final organization of Divine services in it, Israelites flocked there from all sides to worship the True God - so, according to this, now in the New Grace Church the whole people worship the Lord, in the person of His Holy Gospel, which constitutes, as it were, a living image of Christ Himself. On holidays, the Gospel is read in the middle of the church and, after reading, is taken to the altar, and the sacred images of the Gospel events or the Holy Saints of God are honored with worship and kissing. On major holidays, believers, after kissing the icon before them, are anointed with oil by the priest, as a sign of the special outpouring of God’s mercy on them.
After reading the gospel of Christ and worshiping His Holy Resurrection, the first verses of David’s repentant psalm, “Have mercy on me, God!” are sung. etc.; then the deacon says a prayer: God save Thy people, etc., ending with the prayer of the priest, calling on the intercession of the All-Pure Ever-Virgin, the disembodied forces and all the saints, to whom the clergy applies, for all those who are coming, many times, Lord, have mercy! - All this matters is that the old law of Moses, and in its most solemn manifestation, was only a guide to Christ (Gal. 3:4), preparing people for the fact that salvation is possible for them only through the mercy, generosity and love of the Only Begotten Son of God!
This ends the most solemn part of the morning service, called the polyeleos.
This is followed by the reading of the Canon (introduced into Matins around the 7th century), consisting of 9 songs in honor of the 9 ranks of Angels, the content of which is borrowed from prophetic Old Testament chants. The Canon is arranged according to three main periods of prophecy, which depict divine revelations about Christ.
The first three songs of the Canon are borrowed from the most ancient period of prophecy, even preceding the time of the Kings, namely from the time of Moses.
The fourth song contains a prophetic song about Christ, the prophet. Habakkuk, who lived 608 years BC.
The fifth depicts prophecies about the saving fruits of the coming of Christ, prophet. Isaiah, who lived 803–723 years BC.
The sixth contains the prophecies of Jonah, who lived 800 years BC.
The seventh hymn is borrowed from a song sung in the Babylonian oven by the pious youths, whose triplicity depicted that the Conqueror of death and hell is one of the persons of the Holy Trinity.
The eighth song is based on the same prophetic song of these youths, developed only by the fact that He who sent down spiritual dew on them in the midst of the flame is truly worthy of the eternal blessings of all He created. And indeed, this song, passing from generation to generation, finally announced the vaults of the second temple of Jerusalem, in which the Lord of the church himself, about whom it was mentioned, was soon to appear; for with the suppression of the Maccabean family, and with the taking away of the scepter from the tribe of Judah, royal power had already passed into the hands of the slave and flatterer Herod!
The ninth hymn contains Elizabeth’s prophetic greeting to the Ever-Virgin Mary and the same prophetic response to the latter, where She, magnifying the Lord with her soul, rejoices in spirit in God, Her Savior!
In general, the Canon depicts all those revelations of God about the coming Redeemer of the world, with which the Law and the Prophets testified about him, for the more solemn the Old Testament rites were and the more abundant the symbolic sacrifices were made, the stronger the desire for the speedy appearance of the promised Messiah grew in the souls of believers. But the Sun of Truth has not suddenly risen above the world; —His rising must have been preceded by a whole host of heavenly stars, in the person of the prophets, so that the world, like a blind man receiving his sight, would be prepared for the perception of the radiant Light.
Before the singing of the ninth song of the Canon, the deacon, in memory of the visit of the Mother of God to the house of Zacharias, comes out of the altar with a censer and, standing before the local image of the Mother of God, proclaims: Theotokos and Mother of light, let us exalt in songs! and the clergy sings the very words of the Mother of God that She uttered in response to Elizabeth’s greeting, and adds each individual part of them with the magnification of the Most Honest Cherubim and the Most Glorious, without comparison, of the Seraphim.
This is followed by a small litany, ending with the exclamation of the priest: for the heavenly powers praise You, etc., and the deacon, verbally depicting these praises of the heavenly world, proclaims three times: Holy is the Lord our God! The clergy, repeating these words, after them sings a short sacred song called Svetilen, and after it three psalms of praise (148, 149, 150), adding to them the Stichera, which already demonstrate the power of grace of the new testament in its Saints.
But then comes the most solemn moment: the royal doors, closed during the reading of the Canon and the prayers that followed, are opened again, while the choir sings a hymn in honor of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, and the priest, as if reverently sending the first greeting to Christ who shone forth from her, joyfully proclaims: Glory to Thee, who showed us the light. This depicts the moment of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore those praying in the church, illuminated, like the shepherds of Bethlehem, by the light of the joyful news and the splendor of the Angels who brought it, together with the face of heaven, sing to the Born: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to men!
At the end of this great Doxology, the deacon pronounces two more litanies, (subjective and supplicative), and after them the priest concludes Matins with the usual dismissal: blessing those present and comforting them that Christ, through the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and all the Saints, will have mercy and save them.