The exit of the clergy to the middle of the church in front of the Shroud to sing the “immaculate” on Holy Saturday at Matins

Our current Charter does not directly say anything about this withdrawal. “According to this (i.e., after the troparions: “Blessed Joseph,” etc.), the Rule says about the singing of the “immaculate ones,” the rector distributes candles to the brethren and we begin to sing the blameless ones with sweet singing. So it is with the verse. And the singer exclaims praises in a voice 5" 1 (fol. 393 vol.). In this case, the Charter is silent about where the rector and the brethren should be during this singing - whether in the altar, or in the middle of the church, but this instruction can be deduced from another place in the same Typikon. Across the page, a note about the removal of the Shroud begins with the following words: “Great Doxology” 2 . In the same way, the rector enters the holy altar with singing and the deacons 3, etc. Consequently, he and the others until now were outside the altar and, without any doubt, in the middle of the church in front of the Shroud. Historical data tells us this, from which we can see that the entrance of priests to the Shroud to sing the “immaculate” has been practiced in Rus' for a very long time. The first evidence of this exit can be found in liturgical monuments of the 16th century. According to the Rules of the Monastery of Anthony of Zion, after the troparion on “God is the Lord,” the 17th kathisma was sung, during which the abbot and other priests went out into the middle of the meal and stood before the icon of the entombment of Christ the Savior lying on the lectern (At this time, the custom of bringing out the Shroud was just beginning to come into practice. The Shroud was taken out after the great doxology at the same matins). During the singing of the magnification, the abbot incensed the entire church, after which they read the word of St. George of Nicomedia on Great Friday (RKP. M. Synod, bib. 814 fol. 260 vol., from the altar, and in front of the icon: “The taking down of the Lord’s body from the cross and placing in the tomb” (Treb. RKP. 26 century M. Synod, bib. No. 310 l. 84−92). This last monument establishes a connection between this custom and a similar custom of the Church of Constantinople, from which it was undoubtedly borrowed into our liturgical practice in the 16th century. This monument sets out the present custom of the Church of Constantinople in everything similar to the described custom regarding this in our Church. He even says that the priests stood before the icon: “The despondency of our Lord Jesus Christ." But he also indicates the difference in the time of performing this rite in Russia and in Constantinople. In our country, “the immaculates” are sung after the troparia to “God the Lord” and, therefore, the exit to the middle of the church should take place at this time, while in the East the singing of the “immaculates" is transferred to the time after the canon, therefore, it is self-evident, and the exit of the priests from the altar was at this time. “It is necessary to know,” this monument notes about the singing of the “immaculate” after the canon, as the funeral sung in the Constantinople Cathedral Church and throughout (all) metropolises, “The Blessed are immaculate” are not sung before and from the chorus before the eve, but are sung. Sitsa for the sake of the people after the ninth song and the lamp" (RKP. XVI century. M. Synod, Bible 5. 310 l. 84−42). The singing of the “immaculate” after the canon is practiced in the Greek Church to this day. "According to the ninth song, says the modern Typikon of the Eastern churches, the patriarch comes from the holy altar with the holy bishops and sings praise: “Thou hast laid down life in the tomb,” censing the epitaphs and all the people. The holy bishops sing praises in a row. For the patriarch who has come from (incense), there is a small litany" (Typik, ed. Const. K. Protopsal. pp. 292, 293). In general, it must be said that the service of this day in the east differs significantly from the service according to our modern Rule. So, undoubtedly, the custom of priests going out from the altar into the middle of the church to sing the “immaculate” is very ancient in the practice of the Russian Church. It appeared at the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century and undoubtedly under the influence of the practice of the Eastern churches, in the Charter of which one can find indications of it even today. This is how this remark is read in the Greek Typikon of 1643. 86, but with a slight difference in the placement of punctuation marks, which in our opinion is more correct. Words: Same for the verse. And praises, etc. in the Greek original are stated in this form: Ὡ σαύτως κατά ἤ χον καἰ ἐγκωμια. Ἐκφωνεῖ ο ψάλτης κ. τ. α. Priests who go to the altar while singing the canon (Nikol, a guide to studying the Constitution, p. 606) violate the instructions of the Charter, which recommends doing this before the start of the great doxology, but act in accordance with the modern Typikon of the Eastern churches. « 261). Another monument, which is southern Russian in origin, also recommends going out here to sing the 17th Kathisma. And according to this monument, the priests do not stand before the Shroud, which has not yet been taken out here, this Typikon notes, before the 50th psalm and the beginning of the canon, the great archimandrite and the priests entered the altar” (Typic, ed. K. Protops. p. 292). These words are not and could not be in the Greek Typikon of 1643, since the ancient Jerusalem Charter does not say anything about the removal of the Shroud, nor about the priests going out into the middle of the church to sing the “immaculate” (Τυπικον rkp. vol.). These differences are as follows: Before the beginning of Matins on Saturday, the 17th kathisma is read, “and the twelfth remaining reading from Vespers,” the troparia that is now, the small litany and sedalene: “By the pure Shroud,” glory and now, “Horrified faces” (Here, according to the remark of the Rule, the great archimandrite with the priests entered the altar), Psalm 50 and the canon. After 3 songs are sedal: > Thy Sepulcher, Savior and other verses from > the immaculate Father of all the Angelic Council, " > Holy is the Lord God < and praise stichera. At this time, the patriarch kisses the epitaph, blesses the people and goes to his throne. After kissing the epitaphs, the other bishops also leave. A great doxology is sung and the Shroud is taken out. You might be interested in: