Orthros
Orthros or Oútrenya, in the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches, is the last of the four night offices, the other three being vespers, compline, and midnight office. Traditionally, in monasteries it is held daily so as to end immediately following sunrise, in contrast to parishes where it is held only on Sundays and feast days. It is often called matins after the office it most nearly corresponds to in Western Christian churches.
Orthros is the longest and most complex of the daily cycle of services. It is normally held in the early morning, often — always in monasteries — preceded by the midnight office, and usually followed by the First Hour. On great feasts it is held as part of an all-night vigil commencing the evening before, combined with an augmented great vespers and the first hour. In the Russian tradition, an all-night vigil is celebrated every Saturday evening, typically abridged, however, in spite of its name, to as short as two hours. In the Greek parish tradition, orthros is normally held just before the beginning of the divine liturgy on Sunday and feast day mornings.
The akolouth is composed primarily of psalms and litanies. The sequences of matins are composed primarily of hymns and canons from the octoechos, and from the menaion. During great lent and some of the period preceding it, some of the portions from the octoechos and menaion are replaced by hymns from the triodion and during the paschal season with material from the pentecostarion. On Sundays there is also a gospel reading and corresponding hymns from the eleven-part cycle of resurrectional gospels.
Outline
- Matins usually opens with what is called the "Royal Beginning", so called because the psalms :
- * The priest's opening blessing: Blessed is our God..., reader: Amen. and the usual beginning.
- *Psalms 19 and 20, during which the priest performs a full censing of the temple.
- *Glory... Both now... and the Trisagion prayers.
- * The Royal troparia:
- * A brief litany by the priest
- * Ekphonesis by the priest: Glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and undivided trinity, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages
- The Six Psalms, during which the priest says twelve silent prayers: six in front of the Holy Table, and six in front of the Holy Doors
- *The Six Psalms were originally associated with the Midnight Office, whose theme was primarily on the Second Coming and the Final Judgement. For this reason, there is traditionally no movement in the church including no reverencing of icons or making the sign of the cross.
- The Litany of Peace
- God is the Lord... and the apolytikion
- *Verses from Psalm 118 are interspersed between each chanting of God is the Lord. These are Psalm 118:1, 118:10 & 118:23.
- *Many traditions recite Psalm 105:1 as the first verse. This is was the result of a scribal error due to the similarities of that verse with the original verse quoting Psalm 118:1.
- The Psalter. For each section the following order is followed:
- * The kathisma
- * The Little Litany
- *Feast Days: If a third section of Psalter readings is appointed, it may consist of the Polyeleos, or other Psalms as outlined below.
- **Feasts of the Lord: The Polyeleos, consisting of Psalms 134 & 135 is chanted.
- **Feasts of the Mother of God: Psalm 44 is chanted.
- **Meatfare Sunday & Cheesefare Sunday: Psalm 136 is chanted.
- **Eklogarion: Depending on the feast day, additional Psalm readings might be chanted.
- * The sessional hymns
- On Sundays: Evlogetaria
- The Little Litany
- On Sundays and Feast Days:
- * The Hypakoë is chanted to prepare for the message of the Gospel reading
- * The Anavathmoi
- * The Prokeimenon
- * The order of the Matins Gospel
- * On Sundays, and every day during Paschal season: Choir: Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ...
- Psalm 50
- * Pentecostarion :
- **Sundays and Feast Days: Glory..., followed by an Idiomelon... then both now... followed by a Theotokion... Have mercy on me... followed by a final festal Idiomelon.
- ** Sundays, Feast Days and Lenten Days, the petition: O God, save your people and bless your inheritance..."
- The canon:
- * First and Third Odes
- * Little Litany
- * Sessional hymns
- * Fourth through Sixth Odes
- * Little Litany
- *Kontakion and oikos
- *Synaxarion
- * Seventh and Eighth Odes
- * Ninth Ode, on most days preceded by the Magnificat, during which the deacon censes the church
- Little Litany
- * On Sundays, Holy is the Lord our God, three times
- * The exapostilaria
- The Lauds : Psalms 148, 149, 150; stichera are interspersed between the final verses on days the great doxology is sung,
- The ending:
- The doxastikon, when chanted properly in Byzantine music is the longest, and usually the richest, hymn of the service. This is sometimes followed by another doxastikon or theotokion. On Sundays it is almost always the Theotokion: "You are Supremely Blessed...".
- Doxology
- * Sundays and feast days: the Great Doxology is chanted, followed by the apolytikion, the two litanies and the dismissal
- * Weekdays: the Small Doxology is read, followed by the first litany, the aposticha, It is good to give praise unto the Lord..., the trisagion sequence followed by the apolytikion, and the second litany
- The First Hour
Types of Orthros
There are seven types of Matins:Basic forms
- Sunday orthros—The longest of the regular orthros services - Gospel Reading and Great Doxology. If this service is celebrated in its entirety it can last up to six hours but is typically abridged.
- Daily orthros—Celebrated on most weekdays - No gospel reading, Small Doxology.
- Feast-day orthros—Very similar to Sunday orthros, excluding those parts which are strictly resurrectional in nature - gospel reading and Great Doxology.
Special forms
- Lenten orthros—Weekdays during great lent, the Wednesday and Friday of Cheesefare Week, and, optionally when there is no divine liturgy, on the weekdays of the lesser fasting seasons. The service follows the order of daily orthros but with penitential material added, most days have three kathismata from the Psalter, "God is the Lord" is replaced by "Lenten Alleluia". The petition: "O God, save your people and bless your inheritance..." is read by the priest. There is no gospel reading. The Small Doxology is read and there is special lenten ending of the service, including the Prayer of St. Ephraim.
- Great and Holy Friday Orthros — Twelve Passion Gospels are interspersed throughout the service; Antiphons are used between the Gospels.
- Great and Holy Saturday Orthros—Lamentations are chanted around the epitaphios, interspersed between the verses of Psalm 118. Contains some elements of the old cathedral office: reading of three pericopes at the end - Great Doxology followed by the procession with epitaphios.
- Paschal orthros—Celebrated during Bright Week, from the Sunday of Pascha through Bright Saturday. The service is vastly different from the rest of the year; only the ektenias, canon and lauds are the same; everything else, including the psalms, are replaced by special paschal hymns. The priest vests fully in his eucharistic vestments on the Sunday of Pascha and wears a phelonion throughout the week. There is no doxology at all.