Evening lamp prayers

Their historical fate 1, position in the most ancient Slavic-Russian and Greek euchologies and their current place in the Service Book. The historical fate of the evening prayers or the so-called lamp prayers 2, read by the priest during the opening psalm 3 “Bless my soul the Lord” (Ps. 103), is the same and does not differ in any way from the morning prayers. Under absolutely identical conditions, completely homogeneous rearrangements, additions, reductions and changes took place in their fate. The same historical conditions influenced both their current composition and the position they occupy in the modern Missal and in daily worship. The composition of the evening prayers at the lamp, their schedule and position in worship until the 10th century. completely unknown to us, because the Slavic-Russian Service Books, which contain these prayers, did not reach us from a time earlier than this century. As for the 10th century, it is also impossible to make correct and definite judgments on this issue, because from this time we have little positive data, and even those that are available are not distinguished by uniformity and stability in showing the composition and order of the prayers of the lamp. Researcher of “The order of public and private worship in the Russian Church before the 16th century.” N. Odintsov, who had several handwritten service books of this time at hand, expresses the conclusion that these monuments give us reason to think that at that time only “four prayers of the lamp” were read. According to him, the first three of them are the same ones that occupy the first three places in the current service books. The fourth was a prayer, either occupying the sixth place between evening prayers and read at that time immediately after the first three 4, or a prayer occupying the seventh place in today's evening prayers, and read by the priest during the reading on the choir “Now you let go” 5. In addition to these prayers for Vespers of the 13th century. The entrance prayer was also read, the same one that is being read now 6. More accurate and correct judgments regarding the evening prayers of the lamp can be made on the basis of monuments of the 14th century, since there is already a lot of data for this from this time. Based on these latter, it can be seen that in the 14th century. Along with the previous lists of prayers, new ones began to be used, in which, according to the same N. Odintsov 7, the number of prayers in the service books already reaches ten and even eleven. It should be borne in mind that these lists were varied in the arrangement of prayers. In a list, for example, with seven prayers - the first four are those that are in the same places and in our modern Service Book, the fifth place is occupied by the prayer: “Blessed are you, O Lord Almighty, a man of knowledgeable minds,” the sixth is the current entrance prayer and the seventh is the prayer for bowing 8 . In lists with 10 and 11 prayers, the current ninefold number of prayers is added by the prayers: “Blessed are you, Lord Almighty” and the prayer of diligent supplication 9. The extremely vague composition of the prayers of the lamp at this time 10 confused contemporaries and caused them to think about this matter. One of them, Abbot Athanasius, decided to ask even Metropolitan Cyprian of Moscow about the number of evening prayers, who at that time was busy organizing our services and introducing monotony and “right” rites into it, which he himself copied from the South Slavic liturgical books. Metropolitan Cyprian was not slow to answer this question in the following way: “You asked me about evening and morning prayers: how many of them are there? And at Vespers there are six prayers, and the seventh is a day off, and the eighth is performed by Vespers and by proclamation” 11. The reason why Metropolitan Cyprian settled on the eightfold number of evening prayers, and not on any other, in view of the variety of instructions that existed at that time in this regard, now remains incomprehensible to us. The late professor of the Moscow Theological Academy I.D. Mansvetov, dealing with this issue in one of his major works, hesitantly expresses the following assumption: “Cyprian,” he says, “may have had in mind such service books in which there was no prayer: “Lord God Almighty, knowledgeable mind of man” (in complete lists it is in fifth place, but it is not in many ancient lists, also in Goapa and in the current Service Book) and the current seventh, which in many lists is read during the holiday. In this case, he concludes his tirade, the prayer of entry really came on the seventh” 12. At the same time, I.D. Mansvetov points out similar monuments of Slavic-Russian writing, in which there are actually eight evening prayers, and they are arranged as Metropolitan Cyprian arranges them in his answer. The Cyprian decision, says I.D. Mansvetov, corresponds to the Synodal Trebnik No. 372–900 13. This guess is very plausible, and we cannot object to anything against it, but, in our opinion, it does not explain, or, better said, does not give us an answer to the question why Metropolitan Cyprian considered this particular type of service book or lists of evening prayers in general to be the most correct and recommended them to the clergy under his command as a model, and not any others. The fifth prayer “Lord God Almighty, knowledgeable man,” however, sometimes 14 is not found in Slavic and Greek monuments at this place, but we see it here very often from the beginning of the 14th century until almost the end of the 15th century. and not only in our Slavic-Russian handwritten and early printed service books (we talk about this in more detail below), but even in the Greek handwritten euchologies 15 and, contrary to Mansvetov’s assurance, in Gohar’s Eucologion 16. Therefore, therefore, we cannot explain the question of interest to us by the absence of this prayer in the Greek euchologies and will have to leave it open. In the composition of the evening prayers of the time under consideration, we observe a feature, faint echoes of which are heard even in subsequent times. According to some monuments of the 14th century. It can be judged that one of the evening prayers, namely the seventh one being read today, “God, the Great and Most High, alone has immortality,” was sometimes said by the priest while reading on the choir, “Vouchsafe, Lord” 17 . In the next century, although this custom continues to be preserved in some monuments, it is a rare exception, and the seventh prayer occupies a direct place in the Service Book after the sixth 18 without any indication of its former place. In monuments of the 15th and 16th centuries. the number of prayers and their arrangement are even more varied than in previous times. Thus, in one of the monuments the number of prayers extended to nine and they are arranged in that order. The first three places are occupied by the same prayers as now in our modern Service Book, the fourth place belongs to the prayer: “Blessed art thou, O Lord God Almighty, the knowledgeable mind of man,” the fifth, sixth and seventh places belong to the current prayers fourth, fifth and sixth, the eighth place belongs to the prayer of entrance: “Evening and morning and noon we praise, bless, give thanks” and the ninth place to the prayer on veneration 19, which is now read after the litany of petition. In some service books - and, it should be noted, these are the majority - the number of prayers of light does not exceed ten. The prayer “Blessed are you, Lord God Almighty” takes fifth place here; in fourth place is the same prayer that is in this place in today’s service books, that is, the prayer: “With silent songs and unceasing praises.” The sixth prayer is the current fifth: “Lord, Lord, keep all things pure.” The seventh prayer, “God the Great and Marvelous with inscrutable goodness,” and the eighth, “God the Great and Most High, alone having immortality,” occupy sixth and seventh places in the current Missals. The ninth prayer is considered to be the prayer of entrance: “Evening and morning and noon, we praise, we bless, we give thanks,” and the tenth is the prayer of prostration 20 . There are service books in which the arrangement of the first prayers to the seventh is similar to the arrangement in the service books of the edition just described. The seventh place is occupied by the sixth prayer: “Great and Wonderful God, by inscrutable goodness.” In eighth place is the prayer of entry. The ninth prayer is considered the seventh prayer: “God, the Great and Most High, alone has immortality,” and the tenth is the prayer of prostration 21 . In one of the service books of this edition, we found in fifth place the prayer: “The treasure of the good, the source of the ever-flowing Father” 22. In the service book with eleven prayers, in the last place is the prayer of diligent supplication: “Lord our God, accept this diligent prayer from Your servants” 23 . Among the manuscripts of this time in the Kazan Theological Academy, in the former Solovetsky library, we came across one such service book, in which the number of evening prayers for the evening prayers extends to fifteen. Here the order of the first ten prayers is quite similar to the service books described above, which contain ten prayers of light. In the eleventh place we see here the prayer: “Having enjoyed, O Lord, the visions of Thy greatness all the days of creation,” in the twelfth – the prayer: “To You the ever-present Light of the ever-fading Light, our God,” the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth places are occupied by the prayers: “God, accept never-ending praise,” “Lord Almighty incomprehensible, first-light, inconceivable power” and “Lord our God, bow our hearts in obedience to God’s commandments” 24. Regarding this last monument, it should be noted that all the prayers, starting with the eleventh, with the exception of the prayer: “Incomprehensible Lord Almighty, the first light of inconceivable power,” are classified in another monument of this time as morning prayers. According to this service book, the prayers we have now indicated are supposed to be read at Matins during the singing of the canon, as can be seen from the following inscription above these prayers: “Say these prayers when the canon is sung” 25. But be that as it may, even if we do not take into account the last of the liturgical monuments we examined, on the issue of the number of evening prayers and their order in the service books, then we must still come to the undoubted conviction that they, these prayers, at that time were not distinguished by the desired stability and monotony. The same prayers occupy different places in different service books, but sometimes in some service books their own special prayers appear, which distinguish them from other similar liturgical monuments of the described time. The number of prayers is also not the same everywhere: some missals contain more prayers, others less. The dominant missals should be considered those that contain ten and eleven prayers. As for missals with fewer evening prayers and more than those indicated (nine and fifteen prayers), then such missals can safely be said to be a rare exception. The printing of service books in northern Rus', in Moscow and almost simultaneously with it in the south-west of Russia in Stryatin, and then in Kyiv, Lvov, Unev, Suprali, Chernigov and other places in the seventeenth century, although it destroyed the previously existing diversity in the number and order of evening prayers of the lamp and continued to be kept in manuscripts in this century, but did not establish the monotony that we see in contemporary liturgical practice. The current composition of evening prayers and their order appeared in the Moscow Service Book for the first time in 1655 26, when this Service Book was corrected on the basis of the Venetian Greek euchologies according to the Stryatino Service Book of 1604 27, and until now in the first printed Moscow Service Books there were many such prayers that were only available in manuscripts and were not included in the revised Service Book. So, for example, in the first printed Service Book of the Moscow edition of 1602, we see that the number of evening prayers is clearly and definitely indicated as eight, i.e., one more than the current number of prayers. This increase, or better to say, the dissimilarity with the current Missal, depends on the addition of the prayer, which is in fifth place: “Blessed are you, O God Almighty, the intelligent mind of man.” True, in the Service Book of 1602, a ninth prayer is added to these eight prayers: “Evening and morning and noon we praise, bless, give thanks,” but it is noted about it that it is not included in the number of the actual prayers of the lamp. “The ninth prayer, we read in this Service Book, is said in secret, there is always an entrance” 28. That is, the Service Book refers this prayer directly to the time of the priest’s entry into the altar, during the singing of the Theotokos. We see exactly the same composition of evening prayers and the same routine in the service books of the Moscow edition of 1616, 1623, 1627, 1630, 1633, 1635, 1637, 1640, 1647, 1650, 1651 and 1652. As for the southern Russian editions of the Service Book, at first they also had the number of evening prayers and their routine in many ways similar to the North Russian Service Book of Moscow editions. So, for example, the famous Missal of the Bishop of Lvov, Galich and Kamenets-Podolsk, Exarch of the Throne of Constantinople, Gideon Balaban, printed in Stryatin in 1604, also, like the mentioned Moscow missals, contained eight evening prayers and in fifth place the prayer: “Blessed are you, O God Almighty, with an informed mind man,” but with the difference, a very significant one, that in this Service Book, instead of the entrance prayer: “Evening, morning and noon,” there is another: “The good, man-loving King, who has blessed all kinds of prayer, diligently pray with a contrite heart” 29 . Missal published in 1620 Archimandrite of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Elisha Pletenetsky, and the Service Book, printed “by the diligence of the monks of the holy communion monastery of the Descent of the Most Holy and Life-Giving Spirit in Eve” in 1638, as having their prototype in the Stryatino Service Book of 1604, repeat the text and composition of this last Service Book, and, consequently, the number of vespers The prayers of the lamp, their schedule and the prayers themselves are spoken of in accordance with him. But since the publication of the Service Book in 1629 by the famous Archimandrite of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and subsequently by the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia Peter Mogila, in the evening prayers of the lamp we see some insignificant, however, only at first superficial glance, features, which, however, later had a decisive influence on the modern composition of these prayers and their order in our current Service Book. The famous figure we mentioned in the history of the South Russian Church and Russian enlightenment, Metropolitan Peter (Mogila), having conceived the work of book correction and, in particular, the Service Book, led it on the broadest principles. In order to destroy the diversity in text and composition that prevailed at that time in the South Russian service books, Peter Mogila decided to make the most careful comparison of the text of the Service Book printed before him “with the truthful Greek text and our old-time Russian and Moscow service books” 30. The fruit of this work was the Service Book, printed in Kyiv in 1629, and there were some changes and comments in the text of the evening prayers. Thus, in the Service Book of 1629, although the same number of prayers is preserved as we saw in the Stryatin Service Book, i.e. eight and in fifth place is the prayer: “Blessed art thou God, the Almighty, the knowledgeable mind of man,” but the following characteristic remark was made about this latter: “The fifth prayer. There are no prayers in Greek (i.e., euchology), from it you can correct this order, but you honor it as much as you want” 31 . To put it simply, Metropolitan Peter (Mogila), although he did not see the need for this prayer and even found it superfluous in comparison with the Greek euchologies that he had at hand, did not dare to omit it in his Service Book, as was done later, because he saw this prayer among the obligatory evening prayers in “our old-time Russian and Moscow service books” and left its reading to the will of those who wished. As for the entrance prayer we mentioned: “Good Lover of Mankind, who has blessed all kinds of prayer, diligently pray with a contrite heart,” Metropolitan Peter Mogila made such a remark about it in his Service Book, which directly speaks for its inappropriateness in this case and its absence in the Greek and Moscow service books. “This prayer (i.e. “Evening, morning and noon”), notes the Service Book of 1629, is written in Greek (i.e. euchology) and is found in the Moscow Zodakh” 32. In the Missal of Metropolitan Peter Mogila there are therefore two prayers of entry, and the priest, therefore, was given the opportunity to read one or the other prayer. The composition of the evening prayers indicated by us and the comments now given regarding the fifth prayer and the prayer of entry continue to retain their places in all southern Russian service books throughout the 17th century and even extend into the 18th century, as for example, in the Kyiv editions of the Service Book of 1639, 1653, 1692, 1708, 1736, 1737, 1747, 1762, Chernigov 1797, Lvov 1636, 1752, 1759, Unev 1747, and other printing houses. The present composition of evening prayers and their current routine in the Service Book have been established in North Moscow Rus', as we have already said, since the publication of the Service Book in Moscow in 1655, when Metropolitan of Novgorod, later the most famous Moscow Patriarch Nikon, considered it necessary to correct our Service Book after comparing it with the modern ones that prevailed at that time in liturgical use of Greek euchologies. Much later, the current order was established regarding the composition and order of evening prayers in the southern Russian service books, since in the south of Russia, long after the publication of the Service Book by Patriarch Nikon and after its approval as universally binding for all of Russia at the council of 1666–1667, they continued to print from the previous southern Russian first-printed editions 33 . The reason for the instability of the order and composition of the luminary prayers will explain itself if we trace both of them through the liturgical monuments of the Greek Church. In some Euchologies, the first four prayers are in the same order 34 as in the current Missal 35; in others, only the first three correspond to the current arrangement, and the fourth place (euch tetarth) is occupied by the prayer EuloghtoV ei, Kurie o qeoV, o Pantokrator, o epistamenoV to noun anqrwpwn” 36 i.e. “Blessed are you, Lord Almighty, intelligent man.” This last prayer in the majority of liturgical monuments of Greek writing is in fifth place (euch pempth, or euch antiywnou pemptou, or euch esperinh pempth 37), i.e. in the very place where we saw it in our Slavic-Russian service books written and reprinted editions of Moscow, Kyiv, Stryatin, Evgo, Chernigov, Supral, Unev and other places and where Kiev Metropolitan Peter Mohyla did not find her. The fifth place, in addition to the prayer just mentioned, is quite often occupied in Greek missals by the current prayer of entry: esperaV kai proi kai meshmbriaV ainoumen, eulogoumen, eucaristoumen 38 and sometimes the current fourth prayer: O toiV asightoiV umnoiV kai apaustoiV dozologiaiV upo twn agiwn dunamen 39 . In sixth place, according to some monuments, is the current fifth prayer: Kurie, Kurie, o th acrantw sou dunamei sunecwn ta sumpanta 40, and according to others, the current eighth: O QeoV o megaV, o uyistoV, o monoV ecwn aqanasian jwV oikwn aprositon 41, which is sometimes inscribed in euchology like this: euch meta thn eisodon 42, i.e. prayer after entering. In the seventh place we see the current prayer for adoration: Kurie o qeoV hmwn, o klinaV ouranouV 43, then the current sixth prayer: O QeoV o megaV kai qaumastoV, o anekdihghtw agaqwsung kai plousia pronoia dioikwn ta sumpanta 44, then finally, the prayer: O QeoV o megaz kaa uyistoV, o monoV, ecwn adanasian jwV oikwn th sh eusplagcnia prosadonteV oper twn idiwn amarthmatwn kai pantoV tou laou sou 45, i.e. “Great God, Most High, alone having immortality, living in the light, according to Your benevolence, singing about our own sins and those of all Your people.” The eighth prayer in most monuments is considered to be the current prayer of entry: kai prwi kai meshmbribV, inscribed or euch thV agiaV eisodou 46, i.e., the prayer of the holy entrance, or eugh antijwnou h 47, i.e., the prayer of the eighth antiphon, or euch antijwnou h pro tou Kurie ekekraxa 48, or euch esperinh h eiV to Kurie ekekraza 49, i.e., the prayer of the eighth antiphon before the singing of “Lord, I have cried,” or the eighth evening prayer during the singing of “Lord, I have cried.” Sometimes, namely in those monuments in which the number of luminary prayers is eight, one more than the current Service Book, through the addition of a fifth prayer: “Blessed are you, Lord God Almighty, a man of knowledge,” the entrance prayer stands apart and already occupies ninth place 50. In the Taktikon of the Byzantine Emperor John Kantakouzenos, two more prayers were added to the eight above mentioned prayers: euch thV ektenouV ikesiaV Kurie o qeoV hmwn thn ektenh tauthn ikesian prosdexai 51, i.e. the current prayer of diligent supplication, which is contained in the rite of the Liturgy and is read by the priest while being said by the deacon a special litany after the Gospel 52, and the current prayer for adoration: Kurie o qeoV hmwn, o klinaVouranouV, which is inscribed in all euchologies without exception like this: euch thV kejaloclisiaV 53. Finally, we know of another very curious monument, in which, in addition to the usual rite of vespers, there is another for feasts in honor of saints. Etera akoluuqia eiV to meian twn eortazomenwn aliwn 54, this is how the rite of interest to us is inscribed in this euchology. Here in this rite regarding evening prayers we find the following interesting remark: O de iereuV, eiselqwn endon 55 en tw qasiasthriw, istattai enwpion thV agiaV trapezhV, askephV wh, eucetai kaqeuton taV eucaV tautaV, poihma Germanou, patriacou KwnstantinoupolewV eiV eortazomenouV agiouV 56, that is, the priest, having entered the sanctuary, stands before the holy meal (throne), being with his head open, prays to himself with the following 57 prayers, the creation of the Patriarch Herman of Constantinople on the days of the celebrated saints. There are three of these prayers, namely: Oi kata kairon thV hmeraV th qewria thV en th ctisei megalourgiaV entrujhsanteV Kurie, that is, enjoying, Lord, during the day, looking at the greatness of Your creation, (euch b) Se to aidion kai anesperon jwV o qeoV hmwn, i.e. and to You Ever-present and Everlasting Light, our God, (euch etera g) O thn aupnon kai akatapauston doxologian upo twn en ouranoiV aswmatwn kai noerwn agiwn dunamewn decomenoV, qeoV, i.e. God, accept never-ending and unceasing praise in heaven from the incorporeal and spiritual holy powers and (euch eisodou) Thn eisodon hmwn, Criste o qeoV, proV to ilasthrion sou, rupou pantoV aphlamenhn anadeicqhnai para sou eudokhson 58 i.e. By entering us, O Christ God, into Thy sanctuary, free from all filthiness, deign to show... Thus, without any doubt, the variety of lists of evening prayers in our Slavic-Russian service books was greatly influenced by the practice of the Greek Church. True, the liturgical monuments we have examined still do not exhaust the number of prayers and their variety in order that we find in our service books. But it cannot be otherwise. We have the opportunity to consider many lists of prayers of the luminary in our handwritten and early printed liturgical books, and on the contrary, of necessity, we are forced to limit our observations of the same features in a relatively small number of Greek service books. However, the final solution to the question of the identity of our missals with the eucologions of the Greek Church is not particularly important for us in the present case and must be left to time. The same fact that the Greek lists of luminary prayers in their order and composition do not represent uniformity is undoubtedly ascertained with the help of those liturgical monuments of the Greek Church that we have now examined. And for our purpose this is the most important thing. In addition, our review of the prayers of light in the Greek euchologies showed us the most ancient simple composition of these prayers, and the inscriptions preserved above the prayers eloquently convinced us that the remaining prayers that are part of the prayers of light today entered here relatively recently, thanks to purely random circumstances (the appearance of the so-called DiataziV thV eirodiakoniaV Philotheus Patriarch of Constantinople) and should occupy a completely different place in the rite of evening worship. This conclusion will appear even more convincingly if we consider the content of the lamp prayers in connection with their position in the most ancient Slavic-Russian and Greek monuments and the inscriptions above them existing in these latter. The first three prayers have occupied their present place since ancient times 59 and in their content are very close to the opening psalm. In the first of these prayers, the priest prays that the generous and abundantly merciful Lord will heed the voice of our prayer and put us on the path to “walk in Thy truth: make our hearts glad because we fear Thy holy name, Thou art great and worker of miracles, Thou art one God and is not like Thee in God, Lord: mighty in mercy, and good in strength, to help and comfort and save all who trust in Your holy name”; in the second, so that the Lord would not expose us with His wrath, would not punish us with His anger, but as a physician of soul and body would deal with us according to His mercy, “guide us to the refuge of Your will, enlighten the eyes of our hearts into the knowledge of Your truth: and grant us the rest of this peaceful and sinless day, and all the time of our life” and in the third, so that the Lord would remember us His sinful and indecent servant during our prayer, would not put us to shame, but would grant us “everything we ask for salvation, and make us worthy to love and fear You with all our hearts and to do Your will in all.” The connection of these prayers with the opening psalm is also confirmed by the fact that in many lists of the rite of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of ancient times, these prayers are supposed to be read during the opening psalm 60. The fourth prayer has some relation to the psalm read before the stichera on “Lord, I have cried.” The priest prays in it that the Lord God, glorified by unceasing praises and non-silent songs from the holy powers, “fill our lips with Your praise, to bestow greatness on Your holy name,” and would give us participation with all those who fear God and keep His commandments. The fifth and sixth prayers, filled with thanksgiving for the blessings received from God in the past day, at the same time contain petitions that we “avoid and so on this day... from the various snares of the evil one” “and the part that has passed today, avoid all evil”, “keep our life unblameable” “and do other things blamelessly before Thy holy glory, sing to You, our only good and humane God.” By their very content, these prayers are directly related to the evening psalms and songs, which contain the same petitions. It is difficult to indicate a direct relationship with any of the components of the evening service, since its current rite has lost very much of what it contained in ancient times 61 . The seventh prayer repeats the content of all prayers during the evening service. Here the priest glorifies God, who lives in the unapproachable light, who created all creation with wisdom, who divided light from darkness and placed the sun in the region of the day, and the moon and stars in the region of night (also known as the opening psalm), asking us to grant us sinners “at this hour to precede Thy face with confession” (see before the stichera the verse “Bring my soul out of prison to confess to Thy name”) and “Evening Bringing praise to you,” (“Quiet Light”), correcting “our prayer like a censer” (see “Let my prayer be corrected”) and receiving it “into the stench of fragrance” (v. prayer before the censer), to grant us “this evening and the coming night of peace,” to deliver us “from the fear of the night and all things that pass in darkness,” to grant us “the sleep that you have granted for the repose of our weakness, alienated from every dream of the devil,” so that we, “on our tender beds,” remember “in the night your name and with teaching We are enlightened by Your commandments, in the joy of our souls” we rose “to the praise of Your goodness, offering supplications and prayers to Your compassion for our sins and all Your people.” The end of the prayer is nothing more or less than a paraphrase of the well-known evening prayer: “Lord grant,” during the reading of which this prayer was said, as we find indications of this in some of the most ancient monuments 62 . The position of this prayer outside the prayers of the lamp is indicated by the monuments that prescribe its reading during the recitation on the choir “Now you let go” 63 and the inscription eisodon 64. The current prayer of entry is, in its content, a paraphrase of the psalm before the stichera on “Lord, I have cried.” In it, the priest prays that the Lord God “correct our prayer, as incense before You, and do not turn our hearts into words or thoughts of evil branches, but deliver us from all those who snare our souls, as to You, O Lord, Lord, our eyes on You do not put us to shame, O our God.” The inscriptions that existed above this prayer in ancient times: euch antijwnou h, pro tou Kurie ekekraza 65 or euch esperinh h eiV to Kurie ekekraxa 66, fully establish this connection and indicate the real place of this prayer. We will not talk about the ninth prayer for adoration. It occupies its present place, which remained behind it in the most ancient liturgical monuments. If in this case we pay attention to the conclusion of each of the evening prayers, we will see that their final exclamations may also testify to the ancient routine of these prayers in the rite of Vespers. So, for example, the first and fourth prayers of the lamp end with the words “For all glory, honor and worship is due to You,” which now constitute the exclamation after the great litany. The second prayer has the exclamation “For Thine is the dominion, and Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,” pronounced now after the first small litany. The exclamation of the third prayer: “For he is good and a lover of mankind” ends the second small litany. The sixth prayer and the third small litany conclude with the exclamation: “For You are our God, and to You we send glory.” The exclamation: “For You are good and a lover of mankind,” ends the petitionary litany, “Let us fulfill our evening prayer.” So, from everything we have said regarding the evening prayers of light, the following provisions clearly follow: 1. The number and order of prayers in our handwritten and early printed service books are not the same. 2. The reason for this circumstance lies entirely in the Greek euchologies, from which our service books were a literal translation. 3. The prayers were located in the most ancient of our and Greek liturgical monuments throughout the rite of Vespers or Matins, and were not read by the priest in one place, that is, during the sixth psalm or the opening psalm. The position of a particular prayer in the rites of morning and evening worship was indicated by inscriptions like the following: “prayer to the 50th psalm” (euch pro tou pentikostou), prayer “Glory in the highest” (euch eiV to Doxa en uyistoiV qew), prayer before singing “I have cried to the Lord” (euch antijwnou h, pro tou Kurie ekekraza) etc., etc. 4. The content of the evening and morning prayers of the luminary and their current exclamations, similar in most cases to the exclamations contained in the very rites of the morning and evening services, as conclusions to the great and small litanies, also testify to the ancient order of those and other prayers throughout the entire rite from its beginning to the end. Otherwise, the fact of repetition of the same exclamations in the rites of the morning and evening services and the similarity of the prayers in content with the songs and psalms of both services will remain incomprehensible. 5. These and other prayers have been grouped into one place in our Service Book since the appearance in this latter of the so-called DiataziV ierodiakoniaV, attributed to the Patriarch of Constantinople in the 14th century. Philotheus, and, in particular, from the time of the attempt to merge the mentioned diataziV with prayers, which until now were the only ones written in the Service Book and their position in the rank was indicated by the above inscriptions, which were preserved by tradition at first and in this kind of monuments. 6. Established in the liturgical practice of the 15th century. of our Russian Church, the Jerusalem Charter, and subsequently, which began in the 16th century. printing, in relation to the Service Book, which, however, was applied only at the beginning of the 17th century, helped to isolate the evening and morning prayers from the rite itself, depersonalized the prayers, erasing the previously existing inscriptions above them and assigned them the place in which we see them in the current Service Book. 7. The current composition of morning and evening prayers and their order in the Service Book were finally developed for its Moscow editions since 1655, and for southern Russian ones already in the second half of the 18th century. / “Moscow Diocesan Gazette”, No. 9–10, 2004 This work by the outstanding liturgist historian A.A. Dmitrievsky was first published in the magazine “Guide for Rural Shepherds.” – Kyiv, 1888, No. 36. Evening prayers are called in the Service Book (Servant of the Kyiv edition 1822. L. 1 vol. Coll. Kiev edition 1824. L. 3; Tupik. Venet. edt. 1643. R. 2 vol.) lamp prayers (eucai tou lucnikou) because they are read by the priest at sunset, when it is time for Vespers to light lamps (ta lucnika) and also because they contain thanksgiving to God for the night light given to us in candles, and a prayer that the Lord, under the image of material light, will guide us on His path and teach us to walk in His truth, etc. (Veniamin (Krasnopevkov), Archbishop. New Tablet. St. Petersburg, 1884. P. 79). The modern Service Book does not speak clearly enough about the time of reading the prayers of light by the priest. Pointing to Psalm 103, the Service Book adds: “the priest before the holy doors, becoming the revealed head, says prayers of light” (Kiev edition 1822. L. 1 vol.). This indication is more clear in the modern Greek Missal Anaginwskomenou tou prooimiakon, it is said here, o iereuV askephV para th agia anaginwskei taz exhV tou lucnikou eucaV, i.e. during the reading of the opening psalm, the priest with the revealed head before the holy meal reads the prayers of the lamp in order (Ierotelestikon teucoV ekd. en PatraiV 1881 et sel. One can see an even more specific and accurate indication of the same thing in the ancient and modern Greek and Slavic-Russian Typikons, although, however, there is no complete identity in the instructions between both. Isteon de, the Greek Typicons say about this, oti ote legomen to de anoizantoV sou thn ceira o iereuV awelqwn, legei taV eucaV tou lucnikou, istamenoV askephV, emprosqen twn agiwn qurwn i.e. you should know that when we say: “Open your hand,” the priest has come before the holy doors, with his head uncovered, he reads the prayers of light (Tupik. Manuscript of the Bible of the Athanasiev Athos Lavra (Gelasia) X century. L. 4; Manuscript of the Norovsky collection No. 385. L. 2; Manuscript of Sevast. collection No. 491. L. 2; Manuscript XV-XV centuries. Iveron Athos Monastery. L. 1; 15th century manuscript Moscow Synod. library No. 456. L. 15; Manuscript of Russik, Panteleimonov of the Athos Monastery No. 30. L. 2; Manuscript of the 16th century. Moscow Synodal Library No. 487. L. 8 rev.; Tupik. edt. Venet. 1643 an. f. 2). “When the verse “I will open every hand to you” is reached,” some of our most ancient Slavic-Russian Typikons note the same thing, then the ecclesiarch creates worship to the abbot, raises the verse “I will open every hand to you,” then the ecclesiarch creates worship to the abbot and raises the highest verse, the priest at that time comes to the royal doors, accept the patrichel, making the sign of the cross with his hand in a cross shape, and kissing, and placing it on his face, standing with his head open, he says the evening prayers (Typikon of the 16th century from the handwritten collection of the Most Rev. Macarius in the Archaeological Museum at the Kyiv Theological Academy No. 192. L. 6 vol., 7). According to other monuments, as well as our modern Typikon, the reading of evening prayers is already prescribed during the singing of the verse: “With wisdom you have created all things” (Charter. Manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No. 1128. L. 30; Aus manuscript. sk. No. 85. L. 4; No. 86 l. 4, 7; Manuscript of the Moscow Printing Library No. 288. L. 7; No. 289. L. 9 about; Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 331. L. 5 rev.; No. 337. L. 7; Typical. Kiev, edition 1824. L. 3). Missal. Manuscript of the Sofia Library No. 524. L. 54 rev. – 60. (N. Odintsov. The order of public and private worship in the Russian Church until the 16th century. P. 91). Manuscript of the Sofia Library No. 518. L. 1–2 and 3 vol. Manuscript of the Sofia Library No. 524. L. 62 rev.; No. 518. L. 2 vol. N. Odintsov. Decree. Op. P. 106. Missal. Manuscript of the Moscow Printing Library No. 129. L. 55–58. Missal. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 344–601. L. 112 rev.; Breviary of the same library No. 375–326. L. 52 rev. (I.D. Mansvetov. Metropolitan Cyprian in his liturgical activity. M., 1882, appendix IV. pp. 10–12), Service Book. Manuscript of the Sofia Library No. 522. L. 47, No. 523. L. 52 rev. (N. Odintsov. Op. op. p. 106); Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 345, No. 340 (Description of this library by Gorsky and Nevostruev. Section III, part 1. pp. 22 and 28). A summary of the diversity that we see in our service books regarding the number and order of evening prayers was made twice and quite thoroughly by the late I.D. Mansvetov in his writings “Metropolitan Cyprian in his liturgical activity. Historical and liturgical research." M., 1882. P. 154 and “On song succession (aswatikh akolouqia)”, separate brochure M., 1880. P. 64 and in “Additions to the works of the holy fathers” for the same year, book. III. Russian Historical Library. 1880, T. VI. P. 265. I.D. Mansvetov. Metropolitan Cyprian in his liturgical activity. P. 154. The author exaggerated the matter by saying that the fifth prayer, “Lord God Almighty, wise minded man,” “is not in many ancient lists of evening prayers.” Eucolog. Manuscript by Rev. Porphyria. L. 39; Manuscript of Sevast. meeting No. 474. L. 53; Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem Compound No. 615. Missal. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 346; No. 347 (Gorsky and Nevostruev. Description of manuscripts of the Moscow Synodal Library. Section III, part 1. pp. 28–34); Manuscript of the Sofia Library No. 523. L. 56; No. 526. L. 65; Count Tolstoy's manuscript No. 274. L. 61 (N. Odintsov. Op. op. p. 107). Missal. Manuscript of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra No. 218. L. 156; Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 349 (Gorsky and Nevostruev. Dept. III, part 1. P. 38). Missal. Manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No. 1019. L. 53–56. Missal. Manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No. 1024. L. 3 vol. – 6 rev.; No. 1025. L. 9 rev. – 12; No. 1026. L. 5–7 volumes; No. 1029. L. 4–8; No. 1032. L. 3–7; Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 909. L. 184–187; No. 615. L. 7 vol. – 10; Manuscript of the Moscow Printing Library No. 131. L. 20 rev. – 23; Manuscript of the Volokolamsk Library (now the Moscow Theological Academy) No. 89. L. 44–48; No. 88. L. 56–60. Manuscript of the Trinity-Sergeva Lavra No. 218. L. 153–156; Manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No. 1021. L. 35–36. Manuscript of the Volokolamsk Library No. 88. L. 56–60. Manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No. 1024. L. 9; No. 1025. L. 16 about; No. 1029. L. 13; No. 1032. L. 8 rev.; Manuscript of the Moscow Printing Library No. 131. L. 27 rev.; Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 615. L. 10 rev. Manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No. 1023. L. 3 – 5 vol. Manuscript of the Imperial St. Petersburg Public Library No. 59. L. 109–110. We looked through this, as well as the rest of the first-printed service books from Moscow, Stryatino, Kyiv, Chernigov, Vilna and other printing houses cited in this article in the Moscow Typographical Library, which is very rich in early printed editions of church and liturgical books from various publications and printing houses. The library of the Church-Archaeological Museum at the Kiev Theological Academy has supplemented our information on this issue, since it also contains a lot of early printed publications, mainly from southern Russian printing houses. The Proofreading Service Book is currently kept in the Moscow Printing Library, which is on Nikolskaya Street next to the printing house itself. See Service Book of the Moscow edition of 1602, etc. Service book of the Stryatino edition of 1604, pp. 627–642. The entrance prayer “To the Good and Humane King” is also found in the Venetian Serbian editions of the Missal of 1519, 1538 and 1570. See Preface to the Service Book of Peter Mogila of 1629. Service book of the Kyiv edition of 1629, p. 12. The differences between the southern Russian editions of liturgical books and the northern Russian Moscow editions continued even in the second half of the 18th century. And the church administration took appropriate measures against this. We know the decree of the Holy Governing Synod of June 26, 1772 to the Synodal Moscow Printing House regarding the discrepancies seen by the Synod in books published in Kyiv with similar books of the Moscow press, namely: in the Apostle 1768, Irmologia 1769, Trebnik 1769, Psalter 1769 g., Trebnik 1769 (octane in contrast to the first destin), in the Followed Psalter of 1768, in the Octoechos of 1768, in the Psalter of 1768, etc. Here is this authentic decree, very interesting in content and unknown yet in print: “By decree of Her Imperial Majesty, the Moscow Most Holy Governing Synod office, listening to the decree received by Her Imperial Majesty from the Holy Governing Synod, by which she announced those sent to the Holy Governing Synod of this 1772. June 26th day from this printing office, with a report, extracts made, by virtue of a decree sent from the Holy Synod to this printing house, typographic proofreaders and reference workers, who found themselves in the books printed in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and in the Chernigov printing house, in that report the books shown (except for the Paterikon of Pechersk) with the same ones printed in the Moscow printing house The books don't match. And how, according to a certificate in the office of the Holy Synod on the 7th and 11th of May of this year, the definitions ordered both books printed and henceforth printed by the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and in the Chernigov printing houses, on the basis of decrees sent from the Holy Synod, to be sent from the printing house directly to the office of the Holy Synod, which should be sent for certification to the Moscow printing house on your own behalf and in the event of a malfunction, whether there is anything unimportant, make a proper examination and definition about them and allow them to be used for public sale, and report to the Holy Synod for the news, and if in those books, according to the testimony of that office, there are any important doubts about them in the texts, the office should submit their opinion with their opinion for consideration to the Holy Governing Synod, about which to the synodal and that printing office office, and decrees were also sent to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and the Chernigov diocese.” (We extracted this decree from the receipt and expenditure book of the Moscow Synodal Printing House for 1772). Eucolog. Manuscript by Rev. Porphyry 10th century (now the Imperial St. Petersburg Public Library); 15th century manuscript Moscow Synodal Library No. 280; No. 281; Manuscript of the Athos Pantocrator Monastery No. 149; Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem courtyard of the 16th century. No. 68; 1522 No. 615; Manuscript of the Moscow Rumyantsev Museum No. 403; Eucolog. Goar. Venet. edit. 1730 an. pag. 28–29. Service book of the Kyiv edition of 1822. L. 1–2. Tactik. XIV century John Contacuzen, Byzantine Emperor. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 279. L. 4. Eucolog. Manuscript by Rev. Porphyria. L. 30; Manuscript XV-XVI centuries. Sevast. collection (Moscow Rumyantsev Museum) No. 474. L. 53 rev.; Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem Compound No. 615. L. 6; Eucolog. Goar. pag. 35. Eucolog. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 280. L. 2; No. 281. L. 250; Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem Compound No. 68. L. 2 vol. Tactik. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 279. L. 4. Eucolog. Manuscript by Rev. Porphyria. L. 39; Tactik. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 279. L. 4 rev.; Manuscript of Sevast. meeting No. 474. L. 54; Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem Compound No. 615; Eucolog. Goar. pag. 35. Eucolog. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 280. L. 3; No. 281 L. 250; Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem No. 68; No. 615; Manuscript of the Athos Pantocrator Monastery No. 149; Conf. Eucolog. Goar. pag. 29. Eucolog. Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem No. 68. L. 2 vol. Eucolog. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 280. L. 3; No. 281. L. 250 rev.; Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem Compound No. 68. L. 3 vol. Eucolog. Manuscript by Rev. Porphyria. L. 39 rev.; Manuscript of Sevast. meeting No. 474. L. 54; Manuscript of the Moscow Rumyantsev Museum No. 403. L. 80 rev. – 81; Tactik. Manuscript from the Moscow Synodal Library. No. 279. L. 4 rev.; Eucolog. Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem Compound No. 615. Eucolog. Manuscript of the Moscow Rumyantsev Museum No. 403. L. 80 rev. Eucolog. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 279. L. 4 vol. Eucolog. Manuscript of Sevast. meeting No. 474. L. 55: Proceedings of the Kyiv Theological Academy. 1873, T. III. C. 413. Eucolog. Manuscript by Rev. Porphyria. L. 40; Eucolog. Goar pag. 35. Eucolog. Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem Compound No. 615. Tactik. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 279. L. 5. Service book, Kyiv edition, 1882, L. 70; Eucolog. Goar. pag. 64. Tactik. Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 279. L. 5 vol., Conf. Eucolog. Goar. pag. 32. Eucolog. Manuscript of the Athos Pantocrator Monastery No. 149. L. 4. This monument of Greek liturgical writing is especially important for us in that, in addition to being inscribed with the name of such an authoritative and famous liturgist as Patriarch Herman of Constantinople, it explains to us the origin of those evening prayers of our Slavic-Russian Missal of the Solovetsky Library No. 1023. L. 3 – 5 volumes, which in another monument are inscribed as follows: “These prayers are spoken when the canon is sung” (Manuscript of the Imperial St. Petersburg Public Library No. 59. L. 109–110). We know of very few monuments in which the evening prayers of the lamp are instructed to be read by the priest in front of the throne in the altar. In addition to the mentioned monument, there is another similar note in the manuscripts, which reads like this: O iereuV legei eswqen en tw agiw bhmati taV eucaV tou lucnikou mustikwV istamenoV askephV (Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem No. 615. L. 4). Of the printed data on the reading of these prayers before the holy meal (Anagenwskomenou tou prooimiakou, o iereuV askephV para ti agia trapezh anaginwskei tou lucnikou eucaV), only the book now used in the East, as if as a liturgical textbook or manual, is mentioned: “Ierotelestikon teucoV hrmhneumenonupo Ierwnumou Bogiatsh, ellhnodidaskalou DhmhtsanhV. ekd. deut. en PatraiV B. Sekopoulou 1881 et. sel. 95". But in the liturgical practice of the Christian East, as we have seen repeatedly in person in Constantinople and Athos, the priest always reads these prayers in front of the royal doors. As for the vast majority of handwritten Slavic-Russian, South Slavic and Greek monuments until later times, they all talk about reading these prayers outside the altar (emprosqen twn agiwn durwn) in front of the royal doors (Charter. Manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No. 1128. L. 30; Manuscript of Aiz. Sk. No. 85. L. 4; No. 86. 1; Manuscript of the Moscow Printing Library No. 288. L. 7; No. 289. L. 9 rev.; Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 331. L. 5 rev.; Serbian Lenten Triodion, published in Krakow in 1491. L. 147 rev.; Tipikon. Manuscript of the Athanasiev Athos Lavra of the 13th century. (Gelasian). L. 4; Manuscript of the Norovsky collection (Moscow Rumyantsev Museum) No. 385. L. 2; Manuscript of Sevast. meeting No. 491. L. 2; Manuscript of the 14th-15th centuries. Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos. L. 1; 15th century manuscript Moscow Synodal Library No. 456. L. 15; Manuscript of Russik, Panteleimon Monastery on Athos No. 30. L. 2; 16th century manuscript Moscow Synodal Library No. 487. L. 8 rev.; Tupik. edit. Venet, 1643 an. r. 2). Eucolog. Manuscript of the Pantokratorsky Athos Monastery No. 149. L. 4. The expressions of the liturgical monuments: silently (kaqeauton) and secretly (mustikwV) clearly speak for themselves and show the priest how he should behave while reading the evening and morning prayers of the lamp. Therefore, in our opinion, some priests act incorrectly by pronouncing with a raised voice some phrases of the prayers they read during the opening psalm or six psalms. These fragmentary phrases, words and sighs usually reach the ears of those praying and, mixed with the words of the psalms being read, make it difficult to listen to the psalms being read attentively. This is not enough. Such priests are direct violators of the strict instructions in this regard of our Church Charter. In its tenth chapter, this is what it says, for example, about the reader of the Six Psalms and the state of those praying at this time: “When the Six Psalms are spoken, then it is proper to listen with attention, for the psalms are filled with the essence and tenderness. The verb of these psalms is with reverence and with the fear of God, as if invisibly speaking and praying to God himself about our sins.” And in another place on the same occasion we read the following: “And he speaks the Six Psalms with all attention, not struggling, but with the fear of God, as if talking to God himself invisibly. And no one has the power to create whispers, less than to spit or spit, but more than to listen to the words spoken by the psalmist, with his hands bent towards his chest, his heads bowed and his eyes down, with his eyes of the heart looking towards the east, praying for our sins, remembering death and future torment and eternal life” (Typikon. 1624 L. 353). It goes without saying that with the aforementioned whisperings of the priest, or, better said, shouting, the attention of the worshipers can hardly be as concentrated as our Church Charter requires in this case. Eucolog. Manuscript of the Athos Pantocrator Monastery No. 149. L. 4–10. Missal. Manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No. 1019. L. 113; No. 1021. L. 77 vol., 81; No. 1025. L. 165 rev.; Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 615. L. 100 rev., No. 310. L. 17 about; Missal. Moldavian-Vlach. manuscript of the Solovetsky Library No. 1015. L. 39 rev., 40 rev. In this case we mean the “song sequence of Vespers” that was once used in the liturgical practice of the Greek and Russian Churches, in which prayers were transmitted with psalms, which later disappeared from the rite itself. See “On Song Sequence”, the article by Prof. I.D. Mansvetova in “Additions to the works of the holy fathers”, 1880. T. III. Curs. Complete. Mign. t. 155. Missal. Manuscript of the Sofia Library No. 523. L. 56; No. 526. L. 65; Count Tolstoy's manuscript No. 274. L. 61 (N. Odintsov. Decree op. P. 107); Manuscript of the Moscow Synodal Library No. 346; No. 347; No. 349 (Gorsky and Nevostruev. Dept. III, part 1. P. 28, 34, 38); Manuscript of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra No. 218. L. 156. Missal. Manuscript of the Sofia Library, XIII century. No. 618. L. 1 – 3 vol. (N. Odintsov. Decree op. p. 91). Eucolog. Manuscript of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem Compound No. 68. L. 2 vol. Eucolog. Manuscript by Rev. Porphyria. L. 40; Eucolog. Goar. pag. 35. You might be interested in: