Carrying out the Shroud and Gospel at Matins on Holy Saturday and walking with them around the church

Our modern Typikon speaks directly and clearly about the removal of the Shroud at Matins on Holy Saturday. "The rector also enters the holy altar (that is, at the beginning of the singing of the great doxology), - we read in the Typikon, - with the priests and deacons and puts on all the sacred vestments, and the priests only in vestments: he goes out with the Gospel under the Shroud, the priest holding the Shroud, and the deacon censing. At that time, the ringing of the entire ringing, coming to him with lights, and from two lamps: and both faces sing the trisagion of the grave. The abbot comes before the holy royal door and stands there, waiting for the end of the last trisagion, the abbot enters with the gospel into the royal doors, and places the Gospel on the throne, and the Shroud on the prepared table in the image of the tomb. rector: “Forgive Wisdom” and the reciter of the troparion “Noble Joseph” once, the same troparion of proverbs tone 2 “Contain the ends” “Glory and now too”, etc. (fol. 394 vol.). From this remark of the current Church Charter, one can clearly see that it talks about carrying out, or rather, going out with the Gospel and the Shroud and says nothing about walking with them around the church. The first of these customs, that is, going out with the Shroud and the Gospel, was finally established in the practice of the Russian Church no earlier than the 17th century, and until now the prevailing Church Charter spoke only about going out with the Gospel. In the charter of Patriarch Alexei (11th century), the exit at this matins is described as follows: “Glory to God in the highest singing, for the glory of such singing, the priest with the deacon enters, having the Gospel, the previous candles, and ascends to the table, and having given peace, he sits down” (Charter, RKp. XII-XIII centuries. M. Synod, bib. no. 330 l. 34). Almost the same description of the exit with only one gospel can be seen in the most ancient copies of the Greek 1, South Slavic 2 and our Slavic-Russian 3 Jerusalem Rules of St. Savva the Sanctified. But from the 16th century, instructions began to appear regarding the removal of the Shroud. These instructions can be read in the local Russian monastic books, or charters, that appeared in Rus' at precisely this time. “When singing the stichera: “Blessed are you, the Virgin Mary,” says the everyday book of the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery, “they will go with candles to the large church and, having arrived, sing the Doxology, and before the air 4 they walk little by little and sing “Holy God” her way (in all likelihood: the whole way), and the priests all walk under the air.” (RKP. M. Synod, bib. no. 829 l. 12) In the everyday life of the Anthony-Siysky monastery we find a more detailed description of this exit. After the canon and the luminary, the abbot went to the large church, dressed there in full priestly attire, and the other priests did the same, who were supposed to participate in the removal of the Shroud, while singing: “Holy God,” the procession. came out of the altar. The singers walked ahead, then the sextons with candles, then the deacons with censers, then the priest with the air, and finally, as if bringing up the rear, the abbot himself walked, holding the Holy Gospel in his hands. “And they walk quietly,” Obikhodnik notes, “from the altar from the doors near the pillar to the bottom of the river, they sing “Holy God” all over, and they sing changing in the choirs.” While the right choir sang “Holy God, immortal have mercy on us,” the entire procession entered the altar through the royal doors. The deacon said “Forgive Wisdom,” the reader read the troparion of prophecy and proverbs. Air and St. The Gospel was relied upon on the throne (Charter, RKP. Solov, bib. No. 1117, l. 210; RKP. M. Synod, bib. No. 814: l. 261 vol. - 262; RKP. Volokol. Bib. No. 338 and 250). In a similar way, the removal of the Shroud and the Gospel was carried out in the monasteries of Kirillo-Belozerskaya, Trinity-Sergius and others (RKP. Volokol. library No. 342 l. 39 vol., 40; No. 338 l. 249 vol.). Obviously, under the influence of these everyday workers, in whom the custom of carrying the Shroud along with the Gospel was borrowed without any doubt from the practice of the Eastern churches, at the end of the 16th century it appeared on the pages of our Jerusalem Rule. In these latter the actual custom is described in even greater detail. According to this Rule, two sextons with candlesticks walked in front of the procession, followed by simple deacons and two deacons with candles, then a “big deacon” with a censer in his hands and, finally, priests with small airs on their heads, holding a large air over the head of the abbot, who (the abbot) walked with the Gospel in his hands. The procession went through the northern doors to the altar, where the Gospel and the great air were placed on the throne (Charter, RKP, Anzersk. Sk. (Kazan, spirit. Ak.) No. 86 l. 537; RKP. M. typographical bib. No. 288 l. 500). In one of the Jerusalem Charters of this time we find a description of the present entrance completely similar to what we have just described, but with a slight difference that relates to the description of the air. “And they come with the Gospel,” we read in this monument, “and from the air, on their heads, they carry, and the brethren kiss the Holy Gospel and the air, on which is the image of the position in the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ, they also kiss and place the Holy Gospel in the altars at the holy meal, even before St. Thomas Week” (Rkp. M. Synod. Bible No. 337 l. 440 rpm). Our everyday books and the few lists of the Jerusalem Charter of the 16th century. we are presented with these two customs of our liturgical practice, namely: the removal of one Gospel (an ancient custom) and the removal of the Gospel together with the Shroud (a new custom) already completely merged and constituting one whole, one exit, but one monument has survived to us, which, indicating the origin of this custom from the Church of Constantinople, gives us a clear idea that in the first time of its existence, each of these customs retained its independence and independence, and in the rite of Matins of Great Saturday, instead of one exit, two were performed, one before the beginning of the singing of the great doxology, and the other after its end. During the singing of the stichera: “Day secretly”, according to this monument, an exit with the gospel was carried out, which the deacon carried in front of everyone. Deacons walked in front of him with a censer, and behind him priests with candles. After “glory,” the saint and the archdeacon exclaimed: “Wisdom,” and the priests sang the stichera: “Most blessed art thou the Mother of God” and a great doxology. Then the priests and deacons raised the Shroud over the head of the saint, who held the small Gospel in his hands. The archdeacon walked ahead of the saint, holding a large Gospel in his hands. The saint sang “Holy God” three times, followed by the people present in the church and the priests repeating the same thing three times. In the middle of the church they sang “Holy God” three times again and entered the altar, where the Gospel and the Shroud were placed on the throne, the clergy sang the troparion: “Blessed Joseph” and now “To the Myrrh-Bearing Women” and the troparion of prophecy and proverbs was read (Treb. RKP. M. Syn. Bible No. 310 l. 84–92). However, in the 16th century and even at the beginning of the 17th century, the custom of bringing out the Shroud along with the Gospel was not practiced everywhere in Rus' and was actually a property of only famous monasteries and cathedral churches. As for the parish churches, which have one deacon and one priest, then in them, according to the previous Rule, there was an exit with only one Gospel. “There is a coming out,” some monuments note, “after the doxology and the trisagion, the priest and deacon put on ordinary white vestments and there is a coming out with the Gospel at the meal, the priest carries the Gospel, the deacon is in front of him with a censer, the sexton is with a candle, and when he arrives he puts the Gospel on the lectern at the meal, the deacon displays the Gospel cross-shaped, the verb: “Wisdom” reader of the troparion,” etc. (RKP. M. Synod, bib. 17th century beginning No. 534 l. 284). But from the second half of the 17th century, the custom of bringing out the Shroud along with the Gospel became widespread, and in the Typikon of 1682 we already see regarding this custom almost the same note that exists in it to this day, with the minor difference that in the Typikon of 1682 there is no indication of the singing of the troparion: “Blessed Joseph” 5 after the release (See Corrective Typik. M. Typographer, bib. No. 1373). Regarding the procession of the cross with the Shroud around Church 6, we do not find any indications in the monuments of even the 17th century, and therefore we must think that this custom began in the liturgical practice of our church later than 1695, when our Typikon took its present, unchanged form. The reason for the appearance of this custom in our liturgical practice must be considered its existence in the later practice of the Church of Constantinople, where it was finally established also recently, for which the parentheses concluding the remark about this custom partly speak. “The singers also begin the great (song) “Holy God,” we read the description of the exit with the Shroud in the contemporary Charter of the Eastern Churches, “the previous one before the epitaph, and we leave the church, there is (a walk around the church and) an entrance, as usual. When we return, the patriarch enters the holy altar with the others, and Abiye proclaims: “Let us hear peace to all. Wisdom,” and the troparia are sung: “When you descended to death.” And whenever I sing, I burn cense around the holy meal, the previous epitaph. Also “To the Myrrh-Bearing Women”, “Blessed Joseph”. And they offer epitaphs at the holy meal. Abiye the canonarch outside honors the proverb and the apostle. The Holy Gospel is read from the patriarch before the doors” (Typik, ed. Constant. G.K. Protopsalt. 1860, p. 293). From the above, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) The actual removal of the Shroud at Matins on Holy Saturday represents a combination of the following three customs at different times: the removal of one Gospel without the Shroud, the removal of the Shroud and the Gospel together, and finally the procession with the Shroud and the Gospel around the church. 2) The first custom has existed in liturgical practice since ancient times; the second custom began in the 16th century, but was finally established in practice in the 17th century, and finally, the third custom came to us either in the 18th or even at the very beginning of the 19th century. 3) All these three customs appeared, existed and still exist in Rus' under the undoubted influence of the practice of the Eastern churches. Ὁ δέ ιἑρεύς ἀλλάσσει ὅ λην τὴν στολ ή ν καὶ εἰσοδεύει ματὰ του εὐαγγελ ί ου, λεγομένου τοῦ πρισαγ ί ου. Τοῦτο δὲ τελευθέντος, ἐκφωνεῖ ό ἰερεύς. Ζοφ ί α ὀρθοὶ, καἱ ἡμεῖς. τροπάριον τῆς προφητε ί ας. Τυπικ. RKP. M. Synod. bib. No. 479 l. 205 rev; No. 380 l. 175 rev; No. 381 l.156 vol., 157; No. 456 l.119; No. 487 l. 251 rev. This custom is also described in printed Venetian editions of the Jerusalem Charter (Typik. XVI century 1577 sheet 861 vol.) and even in the 17th century. (Typic. 1643, l. 86). Typical. Mold.-Vlach. RKP.1574 collection. Piskar. (M. Rumyants. Music) No. 443 l.132; Serbsk Hours 1491 yr. 192. Charter RKP. Solov. bib. No. 1116 l. 451; No. 1118 l. 358 vol., 359; No. 1128 l. 297 (rkp. 1494); RKP. Type. bib. No. 288 l. 359 vol., 360; No. 289 l. 374 rev; RKP. M. Synod. bib. No. 331 l. 213 rev.; No. 337 l. 44 rev. In the old days, our current Shroud (ἐπιτάφιον) was called air. This name was almost always embroidered on these Shrouds, which were of quite significant width and length (Christ. Reading. 1877, part I, p. 214; Reading. Imp. General history and ancient. 1859, book III, p. 97. Ancient. Work. Imp. architectural society. 1874, vol. IV, page 3). In some of the most ancient Greek Typikons, there is also no indication of the singing of the troparion: “The Noble Joseph” (Τυπικ. rkp. M. Synod, Bible No. 379 l. 205 vol.; No. 380 l. 175 vol.), but in most monuments it is available (Τυπικ. rkp. M. Synod, bib. No. 381 l. 157; No. 487 l. 251 vol.; In the Venetian Typikon of 1577, in addition to this troparion, we find another: “To the Myrrh-Bearing Women” (l. 86). In some places, there is a custom during this procession of the Shroud around the church to carry banners, crosses and icons, but this custom is not justified in any way and there are no indications of it either in our liturgical monuments or in the monuments of eastern churches, and therefore one must believe that this is a local invention, which appeared under the influence of the custom of even making processions of the cross at the funerals of priests and laity... You might be interested in: