All-night vigil summary. Explanation of the all-night vigil, or evening service. Glory: and now

Or all-night service, - such a service that is performed in the evening on the eve of especially revered holidays.

It consists of a combination of Vespers with Matins and the first hour, and both Vespers and Matins are celebrated more solemnly and with greater illumination of the temple than on other days.

This worship is called all-night because in ancient times it began late in the evening and continued all night long until dawn.

Then, out of indulgence for the infirmities of the believers, they began to start this service a little earlier and make shortenings in reading and singing, and therefore it does not end so late now. The former name of its all-night vigil has been preserved.

Vespers

Vespers in its composition recalls and depicts the times of the Old Testament: the creation of the world, the fall of the first people, their expulsion from paradise, their repentance and prayer for salvation, then, the hope of people, according to the promise of God, in the Savior and, finally, the fulfillment of this promise.

Vespers, during the all-night vigil, begins with the opening of the royal doors. The priest and the deacon silently cense the altar and the whole altar, and clouds of censer smoke fill the depth of the altar. This silent incense marks the beginning of the creation of the world. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". The earth was formless and empty. And the Spirit of God hovered over the primeval matter of the earth, breathing life-giving power into it. But the creative word of God has not yet been heard.

But now, the priest, standing before the throne, with the first exclamation glorifies the Creator and Creator of the world - the Most Holy Trinity: "Glory to the Holy and Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity, always, now and ever and forever and ever." Then he calls the believers three times: “Come, let us worship our King God. Come, let us bow down and bow down to Christ, our King God. Come, let us worship and bow down to Christ Himself, the King and our God. Come, let us worship and fall down before Him." For “through Him everything came into being, (that is, to exist, to live), and without Him nothing came into being that came into being” (John 1:3).

In response to this invocation, the choir solemnly sings the 103rd psalm about the creation of the world, glorifying the wisdom of God: “Bless my soul, the Lord! Blessed are you, Lord! Lord, my God, thou hast exalted zealously (i.e., very much) ... thou hast created all wisdom. Wonderful are thy works, Lord! Glory to Thee, Lord, who created everything!

During this singing, the priest leaves the altar, passes among the people and burns the whole temple and the worshipers, and the deacon precedes him with a candle in his hand.

Incense

This sacred rite reminds those who pray not only of the creation of the world, but also of the original, blissful, paradise life of the first people, when God Himself walked among people in paradise. The open royal doors signify that at that time the doors of paradise were open to all people.

But people, tempted by the devil, violated the will of God and sinned. His fall people have lost their blissful paradise life. They were expelled from paradise - and the doors of paradise were closed for them. As a sign of this, after the censing in the temple and after the singing of the psalm is over, the royal doors are closed.

The deacon comes out of the altar and stands in front of the closed royal doors, as Adam once did in front of the closed gates of paradise, and proclaims great litany:

After the great litany and the exclamation of the priest, selected verses from the first three psalms are sung:

Then the deacon proclaims small litany: « Packs and packs(more and more) Let's pray to the Lord in peace...

After a small litany, the choir calls out in verses from the psalms:

During the singing of these verses, the deacon burns the temple incense.

This moment of worship, starting from the closing of the royal doors, in the petitions of the great litany and in the singing of the psalms, depicts the plight that the human race underwent after the fall of the forefathers, when, along with sinfulness, all sorts of needs, illnesses and sufferings appeared. We cry out to God: “Lord, have mercy!” We ask for peace and the salvation of our souls. We lament that we have obeyed the ungodly counsel of the devil. We ask God for forgiveness of sins and deliverance from troubles, and we place all our hope on the mercy of God. Deacon burning at this time means those sacrifices that were offered in the Old Testament, as well as our prayers offered to God.

To the singing of the Old Testament verses: “Lord, I cried:” join stichera, i.e. New Testament hymns, in honor of the holiday.

The last verse is called theotokion or dogmatist, since this stichera is sung in honor of the Mother of God and it sets out the dogma (the main teaching of the faith) about the incarnation of the Son of God from the Virgin Mary. On the Twelfth Feasts, instead of the theotokos-dogmatics, a special stichera is sung in honor of the feast.

When singing the Mother of God (dogmatics), the royal doors open and the evening entrance: a priest comes out of the altar through the northern doors, followed by a deacon with a censer, and then a priest. The priest stands on the pulpit facing the royal doors, blesses the entrance crosswise, and, after the deacon utters the words: "wisdom forgive!"(meaning: listen to the wisdom of the Lord, stand upright, stay awake), enters, together with the deacon, through the royal doors into the altar and stands on a high place.

Evening entry

The choir at this time sings a song to the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ: “Quiet light, holy glory of the Immortal Father, Heavenly, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ! Having come to the setting of the sun, having seen the evening light, let us sing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, God. Thou art worthy at all times not to be the voices of the reverend. Son of God, give life, the same world praises You. (Quiet light of holy glory, the Immortal Father in heaven, Jesus Christ! Having reached sunset, seeing the evening light, we sing of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God. You, the Son of God, who gives life, are worthy to be sung at all times by the voices of the reverends. Therefore, the world glorifies You).

In this hymn-hymn, the Son of God is called a quiet light from the Heavenly Father, for He did not come to earth in full Divine glory, but the quiet light of this glory. This hymn says that only by the voices of the saints (and not by our sinful lips) can His worthy song be lifted up to Him and due glorification be performed.

The evening entrance reminds believers of how the Old Testament righteous, according to the promise of God, the types and prophecies, expected the coming of the Savior of the world and how He appeared in the world for the salvation of the human race.

A censer with incense, at the evening entrance, means that our prayers, at the intercession of the Lord Savior, like incense, ascend to God, and also means the presence of the Holy Spirit in the temple.

The cruciform blessing of the entrance means that through the cross of the Lord the doors of paradise are again opened to us.

After the song: "Quiet light ..." is sung prokeimenon, i.e. a short verse from the Holy Scriptures. At Sunday Vespers, the following is sung: “The Lord hath reigned, clothed in splendor (i.e., beauty),” and other verses are sung on other days.

At the end of the singing of the prokimen, on major holidays they read proverbs. Paroemias are the chosen places of Holy Scripture, which contain prophecies or indicate prototypes related to the events being celebrated, or instructions are given that come as if from the face of those saints whose memory we commemorate.

After the prokeimenon and paroemia, the deacon pronounces purely(i.e. reinforced) litany: “Rtsem (let’s say, we’ll talk, let’s start praying) all, with all our soul and from all our thoughts, rtsem ...”

Then a prayer is read: “Vouchee, Lord, in this evening, without sin, be preserved for us ...”

After this prayer, the deacon pronounces a petitionary litany: “Let us fulfill (bring to fullness, bring in fullness) our evening prayer to the Lord (to the Lord) ...”

On major feasts, after the special and petitionary litany, lithium and blessing of loaves.

lithium, the Greek word means common prayer. Litiya is performed in the western part of the temple, near the entrance western doors. This prayer in the ancient church was performed in the vestibule, with the aim of giving the catechumens and penitents who stood here the opportunity to take part in the common prayer on the occasion of the great feast.

lithium

Following lithium happens blessing and consecration of the five loaves, wheat, wine and oil, also in memory of the ancient custom of distributing food to those praying, who sometimes came from afar, so that they could refresh themselves during a long service. The five loaves are blessed in remembrance of the Savior feeding the five thousand with five loaves. Sanctified oil(with olive oil) the priest then, during Matins, after kissing the festive icon, anoints the worshipers.

After the litia, and if it is not performed, then after the supplicatory litany, "stichera on the verse" are sung. This is the name of special, poems written in memory of a remembered event.

Vespers ends with the reading of the prayer of St. Simeon the God-bearer: “Now release Thy servant, Master, according to Thy word in peace: as if my eyes have seen Thy salvation, if Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, light for the revelation of tongues, and the glory of Thy people Israel”, then reading the Trisagion and the Lord’s Prayer : "Our Father ...", singing the Angelic greeting to the Mother of God: "Our Virgin Mary, rejoice ..." or the troparion of the holiday and, finally, by singing the prayer of the righteous Job three times: "Be the name of the Lord blessed from now and forever," the final blessing of the priest: "Blessing the Lord upon you with that grace and love for mankind - always, now and forever, and forever and ever.

End of Vespers - Prayer of St. Simeon the God-Receiver and the Angelic greeting to the Theotokos (Our Lady, Virgin, rejoice) - point to the fulfillment of God's promise about the Savior.

Immediately after the end of Vespers, during the All-Night Vigil, the matins by reading six-psalmia.

Matins

The second part of the all-night vigil - matins reminds us of the times of the New Testament: the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world, for our salvation, and His glorious Resurrection.

The beginning of Matins directly points us to the Nativity of Christ. It begins with the doxology of the angels who appeared to the Bethlehem shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men."

Then read six psalms, that is, the six selected psalms of King David (3, 37, 62, 87, 102 and 142), which depict the sinful state of people, full of troubles and misfortunes, and fervently expresses the only hope expected by people in God's mercy. The worshipers listen to the Six Psalms with special concentrated reverence.

After the Six Psalms, the deacon says great litany.

Then a short song, with verses, is sung loudly and joyfully about the appearance of Jesus Christ into the world to people: “God is the Lord and appear to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” i.e. God is the Lord, and he appeared to us, and he who goes to the glory of the Lord is worthy of glorification.

After that it is sung troparion, i.e., a song in honor of a holiday or a celebrated saint, and are read kathismas, i.e. separate parts of the Psalter, consisting of several consecutive psalms. Reading kathisma, just like reading the Six Psalms, calls us to think about our disastrous sinful state and put all our hope in God's mercy and help. Kathisma means sitting, since one can sit while reading kathisma.

At the end of the kathisma, the deacon says small litany, and then it is done polyeles. Polyeleos is a Greek word and means: "many mercy" or "much illumination."

Polyeleos

The Polyeleos is the most solemn part of the Vespers and expresses the glorification of the mercy of God revealed to us in the coming of the Son of God to earth and His accomplishment of the work of our salvation from the power of the devil and death.

The Polyeleos begins with the solemn singing of laudatory verses:

Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servant of the Lord. Alleluia!

Blessed be the Lord from Zion, who lives in Jerusalem. Alleluia!

Confess to the Lord, for it is good, for His mercy is forever. Alleluia!

that is, glorify the Lord, because He is good, because His mercy (to people) is forever.

When these verses are sung in the temple, all the lamps are lit, the royal doors open, and the priest, preceded by a deacon with a candle, leaves the altar and performs incense throughout the temple, as a sign of reverence for God and His saints.

After singing these verses, special Sunday troparia are sung on Sundays; i.e. joyful songs in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, which say how angels appeared to the myrrh-bearing women who came to the tomb of the Savior and announced to them about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On other great holidays, instead of Sunday troparions, it is sung before the icon of the holiday magnification, i.e., a short laudatory verse in honor of a holiday or saint.

(We magnify you, Saint Father Nicholas, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us Christ our God)

After Sunday troparia, or after magnification, the deacon pronounces a small litany, then the prokeimenon, and the priest reads the Gospel.

At the Sunday service, the Gospel is read about the Resurrection of Christ and about the appearances of the risen Christ to His disciples, and on other holidays the Gospel is read, relating to the event being celebrated or to the glorification of the saint.

After reading the Gospel, in the Sunday service a solemn song is sung in honor of the risen Lord:

“Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship Thy Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Thy holy Resurrection: Thou art our God; unless (except) you know no other, we call your name. Come, all faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ. Behold (here) for the joy of the whole world has come by the cross, always blessing the Lord, let us sing of His resurrection: having endured the crucifixion, destroy death by death.

The gospel is brought to the middle of the temple, and the faithful venerate it. On other holidays, believers venerate a festive icon. The priest anoints them with blessed oil and distributes consecrated bread.

After singing: “The Resurrection of Christ: a few more short prayers are sung. Then the deacon reads the prayer: "Save, O God, Thy people"... and after the exclamation of the priest: "By mercy and bounty"... the singing of the canon begins.

Canon at Matins, a collection of songs is called, compiled according to a certain rule. "Canon" is a Greek word and means "rule".

Canon Reading

The canon is divided into nine parts (song). The first verse of each song that is sung is called irmos which means connection. These irmos, as it were, bind the entire composition of the canon into one whole. The remaining verses of each part (song) are mostly read and called troparia. The second ode of the canon, as penitential, is performed only in Great Lent.

In compiling these songs, especially worked: St. John of Damascus, Cosmas of Mayum, Andrew of Crete (great canon of repentance) and many others. At the same time, they were invariably guided by certain chants and prayers of sacred persons, namely: the prophet Moses (for 1st and 2nd irmos), the prophetess Anna, the mother of Samuel (for the 3rd irmos), the prophet Habakkuk (for the 4th irmos), the prophet Isaiah (for 5 irmos), the prophet Jonah (for the 6 irmos), three youths (for the 7th and 8th irmos) and the priest Zechariah, Father John the Baptist (for the 9th irmos).

Before the ninth irmos, the deacon proclaims: “Let us exalt the Mother of God and Mother of Light in songs!” and burns the temple incense.

The choir at this time sings the song of the Virgin:

“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior ... Each verse is joined by the refrain: “The most honest cherub and the most glorious seraphim without comparison, without the corruption of God the Word, who gave birth to the Mother of God, we magnify Thee.”

At the end of the song of the Virgin, the choir continues singing the canon (9th song).

The following can be said about the general content of the canon. Irmos remind believers of the Old Testament times and events from the history of our salvation and gradually bring our thoughts closer to the event of the Nativity of Christ. The troparions of the canon are dedicated to New Testament events and represent a series of verses or hymns to the glory of the Lord and the Mother of God, as well as in honor of the celebrated event, or the saint glorified on this day.

After the canon, psalms of praise are sung - verses in praise- in which all God's creations are called to glorify the Lord: "Let every breath praise the Lord ..."

After the singing of laudatory psalms, a great doxology follows. The Royal Doors open with the singing of the last stichera (on the Sunday of the Theotokos) and the priest proclaims: “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light!” (In ancient times, this exclamation preceded the appearance of the solar dawn).

The choir sings a great doxology, which begins with the words:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we bow down, we glorify Thee, we thank Thee, great for Thy glory ... "

In the "great doxology" we thank God for daylight and for the gift of spiritual Light, that is, Christ the Savior, who enlightened people with His teaching - the light of truth.

The “Great Doxology” ends with the singing of the Trisagion: “Holy God…” and the troparion of the feast.

After this, the deacon pronounces two litanies in succession: purely and pleading.

Matins at the All-Night Vigil ends vacation- the priest, addressing the worshipers, says: “Christ our true God (and on Sunday service: Risen from the dead, Christ our true God ...), through the prayers of His most pure Mother, the holy glorious apostles ... and all the saints, will have mercy and save us, as if good and philanthropist."

In conclusion, the choir sings a prayer that the Lord will preserve the Orthodox Bishopric, the ruling bishop and all Orthodox Christians for many years.

Immediately, after this, the last part of the all-night vigil begins - first hour.

As Anton Pavlovich Chekhov said through the mouth of Masha in the play "Three Sisters", a person must be a believer or seek faith, otherwise everything is empty, it makes no sense. If thirty years ago for many the word "faith" was associated with "opium for the people", now there are practically no people who in one way or another did not come across Christianity, would not go to church and would not hear such words as liturgy, vigil vigil, communion, confession, and so on.

This article will consider such a thing as an all-night vigil, or an all-night vigil. This is a combination of three services: Vespers, Matins and the first hour. Such a service lasts on the eve of Sunday or before a church holiday.

ancient christians

The tradition of performing all-night vigils was introduced by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who loved to dedicate hours. The apostles followed, and then the Christian communities. It became especially important to gather at night and pray in the catacombs during the years of persecution of Christians. St. Basil the Great called the all-night services "agripnia", that is, sleepless, and they spread throughout the East. These agripnias were then performed all year round before Sunday afternoon, on the eve of Easter, on the feast of Theophany (Baptism) and on the days of honoring the holy martyrs.

Then the all-night service was a special service, on the creation of which great prayer books worked, such as St. John Chrysostom, St. John of Damascus, Savva the Sanctified. To this day, the sequence of Vespers, Matins and the first hour has been almost completely preserved.

The concept of the All-night Service

The clergy are often asked the question: "Is it obligatory to go to all-night vigils?" Believers feel that this service is more difficult to stand than the liturgy. And this happens because the all-night service is a gift of man to God. On it, everyone present sacrifices something: their time, some life circumstances, and the liturgy is God's sacrifice to us, so it is easier to endure it, but often the degree of acceptance of the Divine sacrifice depends on how much a person is ready to give, sacrifice something God.

The Russian Orthodox Church has preserved in its entirety a very complex, beautiful, spiritual all-night vigil. The liturgy celebrated on Sunday morning completes the weekly cycle. In Russian churches, the evening service is combined with the morning one, and all this takes place in the evening. This was introduced by the Fathers of the Church, and this rule allows us to remain faithful to the apostolic tradition.

How they serve outside Russia

For example, in Greece there is no all-night vigil, there is no Vespers, Matins begins in the morning and, together with the Liturgy, takes only two hours. This happens because modern people are less ready physically and spiritually for service. Many do not understand what is read and sung in the kliros; unlike their ancestors, contemporaries know little about the Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God.

In a word, everyone decides for himself whether he will go to the all-night service or not. There are no strict rules, the clergy do not impose “unbearable burdens” on people, that is, that which is beyond strength.

Sometimes events in the life of a believer do not allow him to attend the all-night vigil (urgent work, a jealous husband (wife), illness, children, and so on), but if the reason for the absence is disrespectful, then it is better for such a person to think carefully before proceeding to accept Christ's Mystery.

Follow-up of the All-Night Vigil

The temple is a place of prayer for Christians. In it, the ministers say various kinds of prayers: both pleading and repentant, but the number of thanksgiving exceeds the rest. In Greek, the word "thanksgiving" sounds like "eucharist". So Orthodox Christians call the most important sacrament that is present in their life - this is the sacrament of communion, which is performed at the liturgy, and before that everyone should prepare for communion. You need to fast (fast) for at least three days, think about your own life, correct it by confessing to a priest, subtract the prescribed prayers, eat and drink nothing, from midnight until the very communion. And all this is only the minimum of what a believer should do. In addition, it is advisable to go to the service of the All-Night Vigil, which begins with the sound of bells.

In an Orthodox church, the central place is occupied by the iconostasis - a wall decorated with icons. In the center of it there are double doors, also with icons, otherwise they are called the Royal or Great Doors. During the evening service (first), they are opened, and an altar with a seven-candlestick on the throne (a table on which the most sacred and mysterious actions are performed) appears before the faithful.

Beginning of evening service

The all-night service begins with the 103rd psalm, which recalls the six days created by God. While the chanters sing, the priest censes the entire temple, and the solemn chanting, the calm, majestic movements of the clergy - all this reminds of the comfortable life of Adam and Eve in paradise before their fall into sin. Then the priest enters the altar, closes the doors, the choir falls silent, the lamps go out, the chandelier (the chandelier in the center of the temple) — and here one cannot but recall the fall of the first people and the fall of each of us.

Since ancient times, people have longed to pray at night, especially in the East. The summer heat, the exhausting heat of the day, did not set one up for prayer. Another thing is the night, during which it is pleasant to turn to the Almighty: no one interferes, and there is no blinding eye of the sun.

Only with the advent of Christians did the all-night service become a form of public service. The Romans divided night time into four guards, that is, into four shifts of the military guard. The third watch began at midnight, and the fourth at the cockcrow. Christians prayed all four watches only on special occasions, for example, before Easter, but usually they prayed until midnight.

All-night hymn

An all-night vigil without psalms is unthinkable; they permeate the entire service. The chanters read or sing the psalms in full or in fragments. In a word, the psalms are the skeleton of the Vespers, without them it would not exist.

The chants are interrupted by litanies, that is, petitions, when the deacon, standing before the altar, asks God for forgiveness of our sins, for world peace, for the union of all Christians, for all Orthodox Christians, for travelers, the sick, for deliverance from sorrow, troubles and etc. In conclusion, the Mother of God and all the saints are remembered, and the deacon asks that we all “our whole belly,” our life, be dedicated to Christ God.

During Vespers, many prayers and psalms are sung, but at the end of each stichera, a dogmatist is necessarily sung, which tells that the Mother of God was a Virgin before the birth of Christ, and then. And Her birth is the joy and salvation of the whole world.

Is Vespers Necessary for God?

Vespers is the service during which blessings to God are often pronounced. Why do we pronounce these words, because God does not need our kind words or our hymns? Indeed, the Lord has everything, all the fullness of life, but we need these kind words.

There is one comparison made by a Christian writer. A beautiful picture does not need praise, it is already beautiful. And if a person does not notice it, does not pay tribute to the skill of the artist, then by doing so he robs himself. The same thing happens when we do not notice God, do not give thanks for our life, for the created world around us. This is how we cheat ourselves.

Remembering the Creator, a person becomes kinder, more humane, and forgetting about Him, one becomes more like a humanoid animal living by instincts and the struggle for survival.

During the evening service, one prayer is always read, personifying the Gospel event. These are “Now you let go ...” - the words that Simeon the God-bearer uttered, who met the baby Jesus in the temple and told the Mother of God about the meaning and mission of her Son. Thus, the all-night service (“presentation”, meeting) glorifies the meeting of the Old Testament and New Testament worlds.

Six Psalms

After that, the candles (lamps) in the temple are extinguished, and the reading of the Six Psalms begins. The temple is plunged into twilight, and this is also symbolic, as it reminds of the twilight in which the Old Testament people lived, who did not know the Savior. And in this night the Lord came, as once on Christmas night, and the angels began to praise Him with the singing of “Glory to God in the highest.”

This period during the service is so important that, according to the Church Charter, during the Six Psalms they do not even bow and do not make the sign of the cross.

Then the Great Litany (petition) is again pronounced, and then the choir sings "God is the Lord and appear to us ...". These words recall how the Lord, at the age of thirty, entered His Service, for the sake of which He came into this world.

Hallelujah

After a while, the candles are lit, and the polyeleos begins, the choir sings "Hallelujah". The priest goes to the middle of the temple and, together with the deacon, burns the temple with fragrant incense. Then excerpts from the psalms are sung, but the culmination of the all-night vigil is the reading of the Gospel by the priest.

The gospel is taken out of the altar, as from the Holy Sepulcher, and placed in the middle of the temple. The words uttered by the priest are the words of the Lord himself, therefore, after reading, the deacon holds the Holy Book, like an angel proclaiming the news of Christ, the Savior of the world. The parishioners bow to the Gospel, like disciples, and kiss it like myrrh-bearing women, and the choir (ideally, the whole people) sings "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ ...".

After that, the 50th penitential psalm is read, and the clergy anoint the forehead of each person with consecrated oil (oil) crosswise. Then follows the reading and singing of the canon.

The attitude of contemporaries to the church

Modern people have begun to treat the church as something good, useful, but already having its say. They see nothing new in it, they often ask idle questions. Why go to church so often? How long is the all-night vigil? Church life is incomprehensible to those who rarely go to church. And it's not about where the service is being conducted. The very position of the church is unacceptable to many people.

The ROC reminds the world about the meaning of existence, about family, marriage, morality, chastity, about everything that people forget about when they sit comfortably in front of the TV. The church is not clergymen and beautiful walls. The Church is a people bearing the name of Christ, who gather together to glorify God. This is an important message to a world that lies in lies.

All-night vigil, liturgy, acceptance of the Holy Mysteries, confession - these are the services that people need, and those who understand this aspire to the "ark of the Lord."

Conclusion

After the canon, at the Vespers, stichera are read for the Praiseful, and then the Great Doxology. This is the majestic singing of a Christian hymn. It begins with the words “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth Peace ...”, and ends with the three saints: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us”, pronounced three times.

This is followed by litanies, many years, and at the end the "First Hour" is read. Many people leave the temple at this time, but in vain. In the prayers of the first hour, we ask God to hear our voice and help in the continuation of the day.

It is desirable that the temple becomes for everyone the place where you want to return. To live the rest of the week in anticipation of a meeting, a meeting with the Lord.

The entire life path of Orthodox Christians is a struggle with bad thoughts, a negative attitude, and bad deeds. The rite of the All-Night Vigil, with explanations of the essence of which all Orthodox should familiarize themselves, helps to get rid of spiritual and bodily sins, find peace, peace, God in the soul.

It is a symbol of the transition from the Old Testament to the New, preparing for the acceptance of grace. All-night Vigil - what is it, how long does this service last and what is its meaning?

In Orthodoxy, following the example of the Savior and the Holy Apostles, there is a custom to celebrate the All-Night Vigil in the church. What is the All-Night Vigil?

This is a combination of Vespers or Great Compline with Matins, as well as the service of the first hour. That is, one divine service unites three at once.

The following and the general form of this service were formed over many centuries, they finally took shape by the time of John Chrysostom.

Theologians John of Damascus, Theodore the Studite, and other songwriters supplemented this great service with the most beautiful hymns that can be heard even now.

Undoubtedly, every believer in the Lord God should not only know what it is, but also attend these services. The parishioners and ministers of some parishes celebrate the All-Night Vigil with wonderful hymns in the evening, but the remarkable practice of serving it at night has been preserved.

The interpretation of the All-Night Vigil is supplemented by an explanation of the meaning of life, the spiritual light of Christ. At the All-Night Vigil, believers reflect on the coming day, imagine the beauty of the rising sun.

The explanation of the meaning of the All-Night Vigil by the Holy Fathers is as follows: in prayers we thank God for the past day, we accept the grace of the day to come, we lift up prayers to the Lord.

What is the All-Night Vigil in Orthodoxy - this is parting with the past, leaving sins and greeting the bright present.

Believers often make confession at the All-Night Vigil and prepare for the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

The name itself speaks for itself what it is and how long it lasts. This service continues, as a rule, all night, but now it is often shortened in parish churches.

Important! Confession in our days is often held at the Liturgy, this is done out of indulgence for our infirmities. However, it is recommended to go to confession on the eve of the Eucharist at night, in order to come to the divine service prepared and cleansed in the morning.

This divine service takes us back to the time of the first Christians, in whom the evening meal, the offering of prayer to the Lord God, the commemoration of the dead, the Liturgy formed a single whole. In some monasteries, traces of this tradition have survived to this day.

When and how is it done?

The All-Night Vigil - what it is, how many services it connects and how long it lasts, we learned, but when is this Liturgy held, when can you visit the temple? So, you can come to church for such a service on the occasion of the following holidays:

• days of temple holidays;
• Sundays
• special holidays marked with a sign in the Typicon (for example, in memory of John the Theologian or St. Nicholas);
• twelfth holidays.

In addition, the rector of the temple has the right to hold a Sunday or other All-Night Vigil, explaining that such a service is appropriate in relation to local traditions. The sacred night service has a certain sequence. It consists of the following parts.

It personifies the creation of the world, Old Testament times, the fall of man, his expulsion from paradise. Vespers consists of prayers for a broken heart, salvation, hope in Jesus, God's love.

The service begins with the opening of the royal doors. The burning of the altar reflects the creation of the world, it is instantly filled with clouds of smoke. I recall the words that the Earth was empty, only the Holy Spirit hovered over the primordial substance. The words of the Creator have not yet been heard, so the ritual is performed by the priest and the deacon in silence.

Further, the clergy, standing in front of the throne, glorify the Great Trinity, call on the parishioners to bow three times to our Tsar God.

The choir sings a psalm about the creation of the world, reminding that everything began to exist only through Him.

The censing of the temple by a priest with a candle personifies the stay of the first people in paradise, when God was among them. Blissful, heavenly life, when there were no barriers, hardships, hardships of life.

As a sign of this, the deacon leaves the altar, makes a great petition before the closed gates. The burning of the temple by the deacon shows the plight of the people. Together with the craving for sin, they had needs, sufferings, illnesses.

Right now, believers with a contrite heart, with their heads bowed, are crying out to the Lord God for mercy!

Interesting! The open Royal Doors testify that paradise was then open to everyone.

Old Testament verses are combined with New Testament hymns, they are sung in honor of the holiday, the Mother of God is glorified, the dogma about the origin of the Son of God from the Mother of God is expounded.

The gates open, evening entry takes place.

The clergy come out of the altar through the northern doors, the deacon proclaims: “Forgive wisdom!”, which means a call to wakefulness, the attention of God's wisdom.

The choir continues to sing of the Lord Jesus Christ, because it is he who is our way to salvation, a quiet light that came from the Father. The sacred texts of prayers mention that sinful lips are not worthy to sing of His bright name, and only the voices of the Reverends can do this.

Evening entry tells us about the coming of the Messiah - the Son of the Lord God; here he appeared according to the prophetic traditions. The incense rushes up when burned, as if our prayers are ascending to God.

This symbolizes the presence of the Spirit of God, therefore, at the will of the Lord, the gates to paradise are opened again for us, but not everyone will be able to get there. Then a short verse from the Holy Scriptures, prophetic texts, instructions from the Holy Fathers are read.

Many Christians are wondering what is this All-Night Vigil with lithium? From Greek, this word means universal prayer.

Divine services with lithium are held on great holidays. This prayer ascends after short verses from the Gospel and a special litany, that is, a petition.

A church ceremony is performed in the porch so that all the penitents who come can take part in the service. Often after this, a blessing is performed, as well as the consecration of gifts.

Previously, food was offered to pilgrims who came from afar so that they could refresh themselves after prayer. The tradition of consecrating five loaves is a thing of the past, when, according to legend, five thousand people were fed with the same amount of bread.

End of supper and beginning of matins, polyeleos

Next, verses are sung in memory of the past event, then the prayers of the elder Semyon the God-bearer are read, who for a long time awaited the coming of the Savior. He, as you know, left this world only after his eyes saw the Child. The Supper ends with the Angelic greeting of the Theotokos.

The entire morning part of the Vigil represents the New Testament period, when Jesus Christ appeared for our salvation.

The morning service begins with the reading of six selected Davidic psalms, which indicate the sinful state of people and the expectation of the Messiah.

The beginning of the morning service embodies the Nativity of Christ. People now pray with special reverence, hoping and waiting for the mercy of the Lord.

The Sunday or holiday service continues with the recitation of the great litany, the singing of verses about the appearance of the Son of God.

Important! Troparia - prayers sung in honor of a Saint or a holiday. They follow the great petition, then read the kathismas. These are separate parts of the Psalter, read in a row, which make us think about our sinful position.

It is allowed to sit during kathisma. This is followed by a small litany and the most solemn episode of the service.

Translated from the Greek "polyeles" means an abundance of mercy, sanctification. This is the climax, in which the grace of God is glorified in prayers.

Solemn laudatory verses reflect all human gratitude for the fact that the Lord sent down his Son to Earth, thereby saving people from the devil, death.

The royal doors are now opening, and the clergy, leaving the altar, are burning incense.

Depending on the holiday, Sunday troparia or short laudatory prayers are read in honor of a church event - magnification.

After this, the service continues with the reading of the litany and the prokeimenon.

Reading the Gospel and Canon

The chapters of Holy Scripture that are read are related to the celebrated event; at Sunday services they read texts about the Resurrection or about the appearance of Christ to their disciples. After reading them, the Gospel is brought to the middle of the temple for the worship of believers, they come up and venerate the Shrine.

Then they are anointed by the priest, bread is distributed to them, short prayers are said.

The Canon of Matins is a rule consisting of nine odes. Linking texts are called irmos, and main texts are called troparia. The content of the canon at the All-Night Vigil includes, as already mentioned, irmos, where Old Testament times are mentioned, as well as troparia - with New Testament events presented.

The Canon at Matins is the glorification of the Mother of God, our Savior Jesus Christ. Great theologians compiled valuable texts, but they were guided by the ancient prayers of the prophets Moses, Jonah, Habakkuk, Isaiah, Zechariah, and others. The choir sings to the Mother of God, and the deacon, after the ninth irmos, comes out to burn incense.

After the canon, laudatory psalms are sung, the royal doors open, the priest praises the Lord. After the great doxology, in which people thank the Lord for the light, two litanies follow: an august one, a petitionary one. Matins ends with a dismissal.

The first hour is the last part of the All-Night Vigil, consisting of prayers, appeals to the Lord God, petitions to hear us, to correct our deeds. After the pronunciation of the dismissal of the first hour, the service ends.

Useful video

Summing up

According to the elders, in an age of vanity, constant needs, we need a longer prayer to the Lord. It is she who will help us reunite with God, find balance, tranquility, enlightenment, peace. Attending the All-Night Vigil is a gift that each of us can bring to God.

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ABOUT THE ALL-NIGHT VISION

The All-Night Vigil, or Vespers, is an Orthodox service that combines three services: Great Vespers (sometimes Great Compline), Matins, and the First Hour. What is the meaning of the All-Night Vigil, what chants does the choir sing, what do the clergy do, how have the biblical texts sung at Orthodox services influenced world culture? Abbot Siluan (Tumanov) tells about all this.

The sole purpose of an Orthodox church is to be a place of prayer for Orthodox Christians. And even more than that, a specific, special prayer - thanksgiving. Of course, in the temple they ask, and repent, and glorify God. But the main thing is gratitude, thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the Greek word for Eucharist. This is how we call the most important thing in the life of a baptized Christian - the Sacrament of Communion, which takes place at the Liturgy. Now it is not difficult to find any information about the liturgy - the main divine service performed in the temple. A Christian prepares in it all day, which, according to ancient biblical tradition, does not begin at midnight, but from the evening of the previous day.

That is precisely why those who wish to take communion on Sunday and glorify the Risen Christ at the liturgy, already on Saturday evening come to the temple for a special service - the All-Night Vigil.

PART 1. Arise!

Normal Sunday All-Night Vigil is celebrated on the eve of Sundays on Saturday evening .

Also, the All-Night Vigil is celebrated on the eve of the Twelfth Feasts, feasts marked with a special sign in the Typicon (e.g. the memory of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker…), days of temple feasts, and in some other cases according to local tradition.

About 15 minutes later, a uniform strike of one bell begins, and then a festive ringing of bells is heard. So all Christians are called to worship from the surrounding houses. And the fact that today parishioners often live at a distance of many kilometers from the temple, of course, does not matter. Those who came early rejoice at the sounds of bells and enter the temple.

So, you entered the temple. We got up. in front of you iconostasis- a wall decorated with icons. It has double doors in the center, also decorated with icons. it Royal or Great Gate . At the beginning of the All-Night Vigil they open. The altar becomes visible. A tinkle is heard censers- this is the priest censing (fumigating with fragrant smoke of incense) - the altar, without saying anything. Before him is a deacon with candles.

This action for all its simplicity, is one of the most profound and significant moments of the Orthodox evening service and reminds us of the mystery of the creation of the world hidden from human eyes and understanding.

After silent incense, the deacon comes out of the Royal Doors and, looking at us, utters a very strange word: "Get up!" Well, it is clear, of course, that we are not being called upon to make an uprising, but simply to stand up. But why? We're standing, not sitting! There, old woman Klava, she is sitting on a bench. And everyone else is worth it!

The fact is that in ancient monasteries, the monks, as they are today on Mount Athos, before the start of worship (and at some points) sat on special chairs (not very comfortable, by the way) - stasidia. There are chairs in modern temples of the Greek tradition, and not only among Catholics and Protestants.

And why is it not so in Russian churches? It is clear, after all, that it is not because of sinfulness or the inability to sit on a chair during the service, otherwise this would not have happened in other Orthodox Churches. One of the explanations is this. In Russia, churches have always been crowded with people. And try to put chairs, if there is not enough space for standing ones?

So, Vespers began . “Wait,” you say. This is not Vespers, but the All-Night Vigil!” And everyone will be right. because The All-Night Vigil consists of three services: Great (that is, especially solemn) Vespers, Matins, and the First Hour.

The priest utters an exclamation, that is, loudly, aloud glorifies the Holy Trinity: "Glory to the saints, and the Consubstantial, and the Life-Giving, and the Indivisible Trinity, always, now and forever, and forever and ever."

At these words, the priest draws the sign of the cross with a censer in the air in front of the throne (and this is a table for the most sacred and mysterious actions in the depths of the altar), showing that through the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Christians learned about the mystery of the Holy Trinity - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit .

"Bless, my soul, the Lord!"

Then the priest comes out of the altar and censes the whole temple, and the choir sings the 103rd, “pre-initial” psalm “Bless the Lord, my soul!”.

This psalm chosen as the beginning of Vespers because recalls the six days of creation, which, according to the Bible (chapter 1 of the book of Genesis), began in the evening. In practice, only some of the verses from it are sung. It's a pity. Although, of course, this greatly reduces the duration of worship.

This psalm is attributed to the authorship of the biblical king David himself and is a hymn dedicated to the universe created by God - the visible and invisible world. The description of nature in the psalm is done poetically and artistically strong. This ancient text inspired Christian poets of different times and peoples. His poetic transcription, owned by Lomonosov, is known. His motives are heard in Derzhavin's ode "God" and in Goethe's "Prologue in Heaven". This psalm expresses the admiration of a person contemplating the beauty of the world created by God.

The solemn singing of the choir, the pleasant smell of incense, the majestic actions of the clergy - all this reminds of the comfortable life of the first people in Paradise, at the very dawn of human history.

BUT then the priest enters the altar, the gates close, the chandelier (the chandelier in the center of the temple) goes out, the choir falls silent.

And here we remember the fall of the first people . And about our personal sin….

PART 2. About the Psalms night prayer

From ancient times, night prayer inspired those who wished to pray to God in the silence of their hearts.

From ancient times, people prayed at night (see, 62, 148; 133, 1; Prophet Nehemiah 1, 6), but this was an expression of personal piety. It was only with the advent of Christianity that night vigils became a widespread form of public worship. This is not surprising. Firstly, in the hot East, praying at night is much more pleasant, more convenient, there is no exhausting heat, heat, or blinding sun. Secondly, which is important in the era of persecution, gathering at night in secluded places, Christians were less likely to be seen, captured, and killed.

Regular night prayers were associated with the Roman division of night time into 4 guards (lat. vigilia - vigil), i.e. 4 changes of military guards. It is known that the 3rd watch began at midnight, the 4th - at the cockcrow. Christians devoted all four guards to prayers only in exceptional cases (for example, at Easter). Usually they prayed until midnight, or got up for prayer in the middle of the night.

They gathered for vigils on various occasions: before the Eucharist, before Baptism, during Great Lent, in memory of the martyrs and the departed.

These practical reasons were joined by the expectation of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the desire to avoid sin.

However, from the 4th c. vigils are increasingly becoming a specifically monastic service, especially developed in the Jerusalem monasteries. Ascetics appear who strive to literally fulfill the commandment of unceasing prayer (St. Pachomius the Great and others). In the 5th century in the East, monasteries of the “unsleeping ones” arose, where the monks took turns replacing each other so that their prayer would not be interrupted for a minute.

Of course, then, in the first centuries of the first millennium, the All-Night Vigil was celebrated differently than today. In our form, the Vespers appear only around the 11th century, and by the 14th century, in text (but not quite in rites), it began to resemble contemporary worship.

However, one feature of night prayer unites all Christian vigils of all times and peoples. It - singing psalms .

Why are psalms needed at the All-Night Vigil?

Psalms are not just sung or read at Vespers. They penetrate it through and through, in its entirety or in fragments of different sizes. Psalms are the skeleton of worship, on which Christian hymns and prayers of different eras are layered. New hymns are made from psalms.

It is not surprising therefore that Vespers begins with a psalm - the prelude, 103rd.

After him, a deacon stands in front of the royal doors and pronounces the peaceful or great litany "Let us pray to the Lord in peace..."

Peace is a necessary condition for all prayer. About a peaceful spirit, as the basis of all prayer, Christ speaks in the Gospel of Mark: “And when you stand in prayer, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Heavenly Father may forgive you your sins”(Mark; 11, 25). Rev. Seraphim of Sarov said: "Acquire a peaceful spirit and thousands around you will be saved." That is why, at the beginning of most divine services, the Church invites the faithful to pray to God with a calm, peaceful conscience, reconciled with their neighbors and with God.

The litany consists of 12 petitions, for which the choir (and ideally everyone standing in the temple)answers "Lord have mercy!".

In the peaceful litany, the Church on our behalf prays for peace throughout the world, for the unification of all Christians in unanimity, for their native country, for the temple in which this divine service takes place, and in general for all Orthodox churches. About those who enter them not out of curiosity, but "with faith and reverence." In the litany, travelers, the sick, and captives are also remembered, a request is heard for deliverance from “sorrow, anger and need.”“Need” here, by the way, is not our next vital need, but a compulsion to impiety or idolatry. So we are accustomed to the fact that words that sound the same in Russian and Church Slavonic do not always mean the same thing.

In the final petition of the peaceful litany, the Mother of God is remembered with all the saints, after which we are all called "our whole belly" i.e. dedicate our whole life to Christ God.

And then the psalms are sung again. First the first - "Blessed is the husband" , then, after a short prayer - "small litany" - the deacon, follows a whole a series of "evening" psalms: 140th (it has been used in evening worship since the 4th century, and recalls that Christian prayer replaced the Old Testament sacrifices), 141st, 129th and 116th , interspersed with ten "poems" - small texts composed by Christians. These texts are short poetic glorifications of the Risen Christ, the Mother of God or saints. They are full of intertwining meanings, and simply rereading them can bring a lot of food for the mind and spiritual joy. But when they sing in a hurry in a chorus with slurred diction, it's hard to understand. It's a pity. Therefore, if possible, it would be good to read them in advance with a translation into Russian before going to the temple.

At that time the deacon again comes out of the altar and censes the whole temple in a clockwise direction. It incense icons and us, as living icons, bearing the Image of God despite the complexity of our lives. We bow, step back from the walls of the temple, letting the deacon pass through the temple, bow when he incenses in our direction, then return to our place again.

What is the meaning of this censing?

The answer is given in the words of Psalm 140: “May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before You, the uplifting of my hand is an evening sacrifice,”- that is “Let my prayer ascend to Thee, O God, like incense smoke; the uplifting of my hands is an evening sacrifice to Thee.” This reminds us of the Old Testament times, when in the evening of every day in the tabernacle (the portable temple of the Israelite people, heading from the Egyptian captivity to the promised land), the evening sacrifice was offered; it was accompanied by the raising of the hands of the sacrificer and the burning of the altar, where the holy tablets (stone slabs) received by Moses from God on the top of Mount Sinai were kept. The rising smoke of incense symbolizes the prayers of the faithful ascending to heaven.

Usually not all stichera are sung. But in any case, the last stichera will be performed especially solemnly: the royal doors will open again, turn on the chandelier (we say - "light", although no one remembers the times when there was no electricity in all Russian churches, and candles were lit on the chandelier).

The choir will sing solemnly « dogmatist"- a stichera revealing the teaching of the Church that the Mother of God was a Virgin before the birth of Christ, during and after, and Her birth is joy, light and salvation for the whole world.

The priest with the deacon, carrying a censer on his outstretched arm, preceded by a sexton (a man or young man helping in the altar) with candles, exits the altar through the other - the northern doors (they are to the left of the Royal Doors).

"Wisdom, Forgive" - the voice of the deacon is heard, which in translation into Russian means “Stand up, reverent before the Wisdom of God.” This is another reminder of the "stasIdia" that were once in the temples - the chairs on which the monks sat during many hours of worship.

And the choir sings the oldest Christian evening hymn - "Quiet Light" which in Russian translation sounds like this:

“The comforting light of the holy glory of the immortal, holy, blessed Heavenly Father - Jesus Christ! At sunset, seeing the light of the evening, we sing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - God. It is right to sing to You at all times with joyful voices, O Son of God, who gives life, - therefore the world glorifies You.

Straightaway after singing, the deacon and the priest utter a series of small words: “let us listen”, “peace to all”, “wisdom” , which, although heard in almost all services, can easily escape our attention. But in vain.

"Wonmem" is the imperative form of the verb "attend". In Russian, we would say “we will be attentive”, “we will listen”.

Mindfulness is not always easy for us - the mind is prone to absent-mindedness. And there are many daily worries. Standing in a beautiful temple, listening to the harmonious singing of the choir, inhaling the pleasant smoke of incense, it is easy to forget, to think about your life. But we have gathered not for this, but to pray together. And the Church, which does not consist of angels or superhumans, knows this common weakness of ours, which is why it keeps saying to us: “Let’s listen,” let’s gather, strain, tune our mind and memory to what we hear. So that nothing passes by from what is happening in the temple. Let us free ourselves, at least for this short time, from memories, empty thoughts and everyday worries.

"Peace to all" - this is an ancient greeting of the priest to the people gathered in the temple. It reminds us how Christ greeted the apostles after the Resurrection: “Jesus came and stood in the midst (of His disciples) and said to them: “Peace be with you!” ... and said to them a second time: peace be with you! As the Father sent me, so I send you." ().

Why do we remember the world now?

The word "world" (Heb. "shalom") is multifaceted in its meaning, and the translators of the Old Testament had to go through a lot of difficulties until they settled on the Greek word "irini". Why?

In addition to its direct meaning, the word "shalom" means, for example, "to be complete, healthy, intact." It means "to live in well-being, prosperity, health, both in the material and spiritual sense, in personal and social order." In a figurative sense, the word "shalom" meant good relations between different people, families and nations, between husband and wife, between man and God. Peace is also a special sign of the Covenant - the Agreement between God and people, and the priest, blessing, every time reminds us of our high calling and responsibility.

Get our attention the deacon with the choir pronounces a few phrases from the next psalm - it is called "evening prokimen".

Then the lights go out, the royal doors close , and the deacon again goes to his place in front of the royal doors, so that on our behalf, "with all our soul and with all our thoughts" to pray for all spiritual and bodily needs, to pray for church authorities and secular government, for all priests, for the living and deceased. It is called "Substantial Litany". Augmented means strengthened, doubled. So the choir sings "Lord have mercy", answering the deacon, the first two petitions once, and the rest - three times.

After the special litany, the choir (and in many churches there is also a deacon with the people, so it makes sense to know this text by heart) sings another ancient evening hymn - "Give me, Lord."

Translated into Russian, it sounds like this:

“Help us, Lord, to keep ourselves from sin this evening. Blessed are You, O Lord, God of our fathers, Your name is praised and glorified forever. Amen. May Your mercy be upon us, O Lord, as we trust in You. Blessed are You, O Lord, who taught me Your commandments. Blessed are You, Lord, who has enlightened me with Your commandments. Blessed are You, Holy One, Who enlightened me with Your commandments. Lord, You are always merciful, do not reject us - the creation of Your hands. Praise is due to You, singing is due to You, glory is due to You, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now, and always, and forever. Amen".

PART 3. Blessing

During worship, we often say blessings. These are not just good, i.e. kind words in general. These are our kind words addressed to God. You may ask: “why so many words? Do they need God?
Of course not. God does not need anything: neither our singing, nor beautiful words. A mid-twentieth-century Christian writer offers us such a comparison. A beautiful picture does not need our praise. But if we do not notice its beauty, if we do not admire it, if we do not pay tribute to the skill of the artist, we will rob ourselves, make ourselves poorer spiritually. So it is in our life. We can not notice God, not thank and glorify Him for the beauty of the created world, for our life. But this will not only impoverish us spiritually, but will also prevent us from becoming human beings to the fullest. Glorifying God, we become more human, and forgetting about Him, we are more like humanoid animals, living only by instincts, the struggle for survival and vague hopes.

Therefore, we bless God and bless our lives in the name of God and in the name of God. And it fills our life with high meaning.

***

After the special and pleading litanies where Christians pray for the most essential for life and the salvation of the soul, on major holidays, a lithium is performed, which can be translated as "intensified prayer."

The choir sings special stichera dedicated to the holiday or saint that is remembered on this day, the clergy leave the altar to the entrance to the temple. The air is again filled with the aroma of incense performed by the deacon. On a table in the middle of the temple, they bring out a special, intricately arranged tray, on which a small amount of wine, a handful of wheat, a little vegetable oil and five round wheat loaves are placed in bowls. Three lit candles rise above all this.

Under the dimly lit vaults of the temple deacon prayers are heard . They contain a prayer for the salvation of people, for church and civil authorities, for the souls of Christians, for cities, for our country and the believers living in it, for the dead, a request for deliverance from the invasion of enemies, internecine warfare.

All saints are called, many of whom are listed by name.

Among other things, we will hear a request to God to deliver our city and every city and country“From hunger, destruction, coward, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners and internecine strife; O hedgehog be merciful and kind to our good and philanthropic God, turn away every anger that is moved against us, and deliver us from His proper and righteous rebuke.

And if smooth(= famine), flood, invasion of foreigners and internecine scolding(= struggle) are still clear, then what does the coward have to do with it? Of course, this is not a prayer that there will be more brave people among us, and not cowardly people. Coward- in Church Slavonic means earthquake, the fire- of course, the fire, destruction - pestilence, pestilence, benevolent - benevolent proper and righteous rebuke - a just punishment that threatens us, need is violence, etc.

These petitions end with the repeated singing of "Lord, have mercy."

At the end of the litia, a long prayer is read, listing many saints of the Christian Church. in general and, in particular, those who were glorified in our area. We ask God:“Make our prayer favorable, grant us the forgiveness of our sins, cover us with the roof of Thy wings, drive away from us every enemy and enemy, pacify our life, Lord, have mercy on us and Thy peace and save our souls, as a good and lover of mankind.”

After this prayer, stichera are sung again. with a mysterious name "on the verse" , but essentially different from others. The clergy move closer to the center of the temple, to a table with bread.
The time is coming for the performance of another ancient Christian hymn, the text of which is preserved in the Gospel - "Now you let go."

It was spoken by St. Simeon the God-Receiver, when he received the Divine Infant Christ in his arms in the Jerusalem temple on the fortieth day after His birth. In this prayer, the Old Testament elder thanks God for allowing Simeon before his death to see the Salvation of the whole world - Christ, which was given by God for the glory of Israel and for the enlightenment of the Gentiles and the whole world. Here is the English translation of this prayer:“Now you release (me) your servant, Lord, according to your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.”

Usually the choir sings something incredibly beautiful and musically solemn, so it is difficult to make out the words, so it would be good to read the texts of the main chants in advance, before coming to the temple.

Here we can recall that Merry Christmas, since the birth of the Virgin New Testament era begins and the Old Testament loses its binding force. Turn on the chandelier (and we already remember - these are such chandeliers in the center of the temple), the troparion of the feast or a touching prayer to the Mother of God is solemnly sung , also partly based on the gospel words. Here is its Russian translation: “Theotokos Virgin Mary, full of the grace of God, rejoice! The Lord is with you; Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the Fruit born of Thee, because You have given birth to the Savior of our souls.

The deacon censes three times around the table with bread, wheat, wine and oil, and then the priest blesses them, praying that the abundance of these basic products, symbolizing prosperity and satisfaction in everything necessary for life, does not stop in our temple, in our city , country and all over the world.

The priest approaches the central doors of the altar, the table with the loaves is taken to the altar, so that the servants there cut the bread into small pieces and sprinkle it with wine. A little later, they will be distributed to believers as a reminder of the Gospel miracle, when the Lord fed 5,000 people with five loaves, as well as a reminder of the ancient practice of prayer throughout the night, when these loaves served as a reinforcement of strength for those who pray.

While we're listening the choir sings the words of the 33rd psalm .

- “I will bless the Lord at every hour, His praise is always on my lips ...
- I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my sorrows ...
“Come to Him and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed…
- Here the beggar called, and the Lord heard him, and saved him from all his sorrows ...
- Taste and see that the Lord is good - happy is he who trusts in Him.
“The rich have become poor and starving, but those who seek the Lord will not endure the need for any good!”

The priest turns to us, makes the sign of the cross in the air with his hand and calls on all of us the blessing of God on behalf of the incarnate God: "The blessing of the Lord is upon you, by His grace and love of mankind always, now and ever and forever and ever."

The choir sings ancient affirmative Amen, What means True!An angelic hymn sounds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men" , and the temple plunges into darkness again and silence, broken only by measured by reading six psalms, reminding us of the long expectation of all mankind for the coming of Christ the Savior into our world.

The morning has begun.

PART 4. About the Six Psalms and the Reading of the Gospel

I remember when I first consciously came to the All-Night Vigil back in 1984 and saw that the Royal Doors were closing at the beginning of the Six Psalms and the chandelier was extinguished, I decided that the service had already ended and it was time to leave the church. Good thing there was someone to stop me. After all, after a long reading in the twilight, “the most interesting” begins.

Now, of course, every part of the Vespers is “interesting” for me, because it is filled with meaning. And then, as, indeed, for many of us today, everything was simple: the gates are open, the lamps are burning, something solemnly sings, the clergy solemnly exit the altar - it means interesting. And if they read something incomprehensible in the twilight of the temple, this is not interesting, you need to endure a little, pray for something of your own, vital.

But just as the alternation of light and dusk is important in life, so in worship this alternation has meaning and significance.

The darkness in the temple not only contributes to greater prayerful concentration, but also reminds us of the Old Testament, of those millennia during which people waited for the Incarnation, suffered, bitterly realizing their inability to draw closer to God. Twilight is a light gesture of repentance, a symbol of the fact that without God we are doomed to wander in the half-light of our own opinions and fantasies. Accordingly, the light symbolizes the clarity and beauty of the path that Christ invites us all to follow.

***

So, the darkness that came in the temple marks that deep night in which Christ came to earth, glorified by angelic singing: "Gloria". These angelic words precede the reading of the special six psalms reflecting the whole variety of feelings of a person who sanctifies the morning with prayer. Here is the joy of meeting God, and the path of repentance to this joy. Reading is so important (although, alas, it is practically inaccessible in churches with poor acoustics and slurred diction of readers) that, according to the Church Charter during it, it is not customary to either cross or bow. And even more so to talk, walk around the temple, leave it, believing that this is a kind of "intermission" in worship.

After the first three psalms, the priest leaves the altar and continues to read 12 special morning prayers to himself in front of the royal doors, which he began to read even in the altar, in front of the throne.

Seeing his figure, casting shadows, swaying from a small candle, with the help of which he reads from the prayer service, we remember Christ, who heard the sorrow of fallen humanity and not only descended, but also shared our suffering to the end, which is spoken of in the reading at this time psalm 87. The priest mentally prays for the Christians standing in the temple, asking them to forgive their sins, to give them sincere faith and unfeigned love, to bless all their deeds and to honor them with the Kingdom of Heaven.

After the end of the Six Psalms, the Great Litany is again pronounced, as at the beginning of the Vespers, at Vespers. All of us, following the deacon, ask Christ, who appeared on earth, whose birth is glorified at the beginning of the Six Psalms, to fulfill our petitions for the most urgent spiritual and bodily blessings.

After the petitions of the litany, the singing of the deacon and the choir of verses from the 117th psalm sound - "God is the Lord, and appear to us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

We remember how, at the age of 30, Christ entered public service, we remember His entry into Jerusalem. Jesus Christ is confessed here not as God in general, but also as the Lord, that is, the God of all Sacred history from the Creation of the world to the end of time, the God of biblical Israel.

Here the troparion is sung - the main semantic chant of the holiday. This is a cheerful, joyful moment of worship. The candles extinguished before the Six Psalms are lit again on the candlesticks. But this is only a premonition of greater joy.

The reading of kathisma begins - psalms chosen in order. The Greek word "kathisma" means "sitting", since according to the church charter while reading kathisma, worshipers are allowed to sit . So, if the benches are free, you can sit down while reading the psalms. These psalms are read not just like that. The composition of the 2nd and 3rd kathismas, for example, read on Sunday morning, includes psalms prophesying about Christ: about His suffering, the soldiers mocking Him, the perforation of His hands and feet, the division of His clothes with casting lots, His death and resurrection from the dead.

After the kathisma, the deacon proclaims a small litany, the reader reads a small text - "sedal".

And then the most solemn moment of Matins begins: the temple is illuminated by the light of all the lamps, the Royal Doors open, the clergy go to the middle of the temple with burning candles, the priest and the deacon burn the whole temple with fragrant incense, and the choir sings selected verses from 134 and 135 psalms with the chorus "alleluia" and “as if forever “His mercy”, where the Lord is glorified for many mercy to the human race.“Mercy” in Greek is eleos, (by the way, the vegetable oil that fills lamps and lamps is also called oil), “many” is poly, so this moment of worship is called polyeles .

This is a symbol of the light of the resurrection of Christ, which shone for the whole world from the cave of the Holy Sepulcher.

To the polyeleos in the weeks preparatory to Great Lent, the 136th psalm is also added, beginning with the words "On the rivers of Babylon." This psalm tells of the suffering of the Jews in the Babylonian captivity and conveys their sorrow for the lost homeland. This psalm is sung so that the "New Israel" i.e. Christians, during Great Lent, through repentance and abstinence would strive for their spiritual fatherland, the Kingdom of Heaven, wishing to be freed from the captivity of sins.

On special feast days, the polyeleos are followed by the singing of a “magnification,” a short verse praising a feast or a saint. The magnificence is first sung by the clergy in the middle of the temple in front of the icon of the feast. Then, during the incense of the entire temple, the choir repeats this text many times.

But The main meaning of the polyeleos is the news of the resurrection of Christ. Therefore, on Sunday (and we remember that it always begins on Saturday the day before), special troparia are sung, telling about the visit of the myrrh-bearing women (that is, women who brought fragrant oil - myrrh) to the tomb of Christ, the appearance of an angel with the news of the resurrection Savior and the command to tell His apostles about it.

Before each troparion, the refrain is sung: "Blessed be Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy justification." By the way, this does not mean at all that God teaches us how to make excuses. Although the Slavic “justification”, like the Russian one, goes back to the word truth, here it means the truth of the Law of the Old Testament, the commandments of God. Therefore, we translate this phrase as follows: “I praise you, Lord, because you taught me your commandments!”

And finally, the last of the followers of Jesus Christ who learned about His resurrection from the dead were the apostles. This moment of the gospel story is celebrated in the climax of the entire Vespers - in reading the Sunday Gospel.

Yes exactly. No matter how solemn polyeleos, but the culmination of the whole festive matins is not she gospel reading . And not right away.

Before him will be the deacon's small litany, then the reader will read a special short "ipakoi" (from the Greek "listen") then the choir will beautifully sing the special antiphons "powerful" (they consist of the verses of the 15 psalms, the "song of the degrees" i.e. the steps of the Jerusalem temple, where they were once sung), and repeat after the deacon short phrases from the psalms - the morning prokeimenon.

And only then the deacon will pray "And that we may be vouchsafed to hear the Holy Gospel."

“Why, then,” you ask, “also pray about this? After all, you just need to hear what the priest reads and that's it! Is it really that difficult?

Of course, we will hear the priest and so. But many people hear what the Church says, but there are fewer believers. Because hearing is not enough. You also need to understand, and accept, and realize how to apply the word you heard to your life. Therefore, we especially pray that the Lord would help us not only to hear, but also to embody these holy words in our concrete lives. And this is where wisdom is needed. Special, not worldly, often paradoxical. Therefore, we pray especially, therefore the deacon will once again remind us that the wisdom of the Gospel must be heeded with special reverence, reverently, straightening up, listening.

And only after this prayer will the passage from the Gospel prescribed by the typikon be read. And through the trembling voice of the priest, we will hear the voice of the apostle addressed directly to our hearts.

Witnesses of eternity.

PART 5. About the Canon at Matins

They seldom sing these days. This tradition is fading away. Many sing, but do not sing. Seriously, so that from the heart.

There can be many reasons for this. Maybe sincerity, spontaneity is leaving life. Maybe the sense of community of people, so naturally expressed in common singing, is disappearing. And in general, people are used to expressing their feelings in a different way.

Still, singing is a special state of man. It naturally arises when the soul is overwhelmed with feelings. Joy, sorrow, love for the Motherland.

And a very special singing gives rise to a feeling of gratitude. Thanks be to God that we are not alone. And this is especially noticeable in the temple, where there is so much singing and other things, albeit not modern, but finding a path to the heart of each of us.

***

There are eleven Sunday Gospel readings, and throughout the year they are carefully, one after another, offered to us on Sunday ( from the point of view of modern man- Saturday) all-night vigils, telling about the resurrection of the Savior and His appearances to the myrrh-bearing women and disciples. Gospel readings are repeated in a circle. Every 12 weeks the cycle starts again.

The gospel is usually read in the middle of the temple, where the Holy Book is carried out from the altar, as from the Holy Sepulcher. After the reading, the deacon holds the gospel, announcing, like an angel, the news of the Resurrection of Christ. The parishioners bow to the Gospel, like disciples, and a little later they kiss it, like the myrrh-bearing wives, and they all sing "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ" It is usually difficult for beginners to make out the difference at the beginning of two adjacent phrases. “Behold, through the Cross, joy has come to the whole world” and "Always bless the Lord..." but "se bo" is, in this case, "because (joy for the whole world came through the Cross)", a "always"- this is also in the Church Slavonic "always". And of course, you should not listen to the “theological reasoning” of grandmothers who sing (and demand this from others) “he will always come” or “because he will come,” as if Christ had not yet come and risen!

But, unfortunately, we are still far from perfect. Therefore, according to the Church Charter, immediately after the joyful hymn "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ" is read (and in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, for example, it is sometimes sung) penitential 50th psalm, beginning with the words "Have mercy on me, O God" . In practice, this psalm is far from being read in all churches, as it has become a tradition in recent centuries. But this combination of joy from finding God and sadness about our sinfulness is generally characteristic of Christianity.

After the penitential psalm, the choir sings special verses calling on God to have mercy on us through the prayers of the apostles and the Mother of God, the opening verse of the 50th psalm is repeated again: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy, and according to the multitude of Thy mercies cleanse my iniquity!”

Then all the believers go to the middle of the temple, kiss the Gospel or the icon on the lectern, and the priest draws with a brush on the forehead of each person the sign of the cross with consecrated oil - oil.

By the way, contrary to the opinion of many "competent parishioners", this is not chrismation, although oil - fir, as a rule, smells good. Myrrh - a substance brewed in a special way from oil and aromas - is used once in a lifetime during the sacrament of Chrismation, which in our time is combined with the sacrament of Baptism. Well, of course, they also smear the kings with peace, but this is irrelevant for you and me.

We testify that the Old and New Testaments are an inseparable story of the salvation of mankind, and the resurrection of Christ is the fulfillment of ancient prophecies. “Jesus is risen from the tomb, as if he had prophesied(i.e. as predicted ), give us eternal life(i.e. eternal life) and great mercy." The "great favor" that Christ shows to the penitent is the salvation of man, bestowed upon all the faithful.

On some days and holidays, these verses are replaced by other hymns. For example, on Sunday night services before Lent and during Lent, special troparia are sung “Open the door of repentance…” setting us up for a worthy meeting of the post.

But we do not just remember the events that once happened, but also honor with grateful memory those who, being inspired by the news of the Resurrection, changed their lives beyond recognition, became witnesses of the faith, saints.

Canon

As we have said, people are imperfect. Someone is in a hurry to go home, someone for other reasons is in a hurry to get to the anointing as soon as possible, but in many churches, alas, some crowding is created. And often behind the hustle and bustle (thank God, if this is not in your church!) what is sung and read completely falls out of attention. The parishioners, busy approaching the icon and anointing, hear fragments of recited phrases and beautiful melodies of the choir.

But in vain. Because in During the anointing with oil, one of the most important parts of Matins, the canon, is performed.

Canon- translated from Greek - means "rule, pattern." This word has many meanings, but what they have in common is proportionality, hierarchy, generally accepted.

Canon as a genre appeared in the 7th century. This is a musical and poetic composition, consisting of 9 sections. In Greek they are called "odes", in Slavonic - "songs". Each such song is a poetic retelling of certain passages from the Old and New Testaments, the so-called. biblical songs sung at different periods of history by the Old Testament prophets and righteous men about the greatest events in their life and the whole of Israel. And their content turned out to be so important that through the centuries it has come down to our days. This is evidence of the highest religious animation, they are the color of biblical poetry. In the style of the ancient text, over time, "troparia" began to be added to the lines of the original - short texts glorifying holidays or saints.

Each hymn of the canon consists of 14 troparia interspersed with verses from the Bible. In practice, on Sundays, four troparia with refrains are read “Glory, Lord, to Your holy resurrection”, “Glory, Lord, to Your honest Cross and resurrection”, “Most Holy Theotokos, save us”, “Christ is risen from the dead”, “Glory to You, our God, glory to You”, “Have mercy on me God have mercy on me" etc.

The canon is divided into three parts - 1.3; 4,5,6 and 7,8,9 cantos, interrupted by two litanies.

Each canon glorifies a particular feast or saint of the day. The Sunday canons glorify the Resurrection of Christ, the victory over sin and death. The holiday canons detail the meaning of the holiday and the life of the saint, as an example of the transformation of the world that is already taking place.

The troparions of the canon are read, and the initial verses of each of its individual songs are sung in chorus. These opening verses are called "irmoses"(from Greek to bind). Irmos is a rhythmic pattern for all subsequent troparia of this song and is dedicated to the recollection of certain events from the Old Testament, which has a symbolic meaning for the New Testament.

For example, the text of the irmos of the 1st song “Let us sing to the Lord, gloriously be glorified” recalls the miraculous passage of the Jews across the Red Sea. The Lord is glorified in it as the Almighty Redeemer from evil and slavery.

Irmos of the 2nd song is built on the material of the accusatory song of Moses in the Sinai desert (), awakening feelings of repentance among the Jews who fled Egypt, therefore it is sung only on the weekdays of Great Lent.

Irmos of the 3rd song is based on the thanksgiving song of Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, for giving her a son (). “My heart is in the Lord, my horn is exalted in my God… there is no one holy, like the Lord, and there is no righteous, like our God”. By the way, it is clear that we are not talking about a real horn here. People did not have them in the Old Testament either. The horn is an allegory, a symbol of strength, the power of people faithful to God.

In the irmos of the 4th song, a Christian interpretation is given of the appearance of the Lord God to the prophet Habakkuk in the brilliance of sunlight from behind a wooded mountain. In this phenomenon, the Church sees the glory of the coming Savior ().

In the 5th irmos of the canon, the motive of which is taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah, Christ is glorified as a peacemaker and it also contains a prophecy about the resurrection from the dead (). Together with the morning praise of the Lord, we combine the request for peace to be sent down to us.

6th irmos - from the story of the prophet Jonah, who was thrown into the sea and swallowed by a whale. This event reminds us of immersion in the sinful abyss. This irmos also expresses the idea that there is no such misfortune and horror, among which the voice of one who prays with all his heart () would not be heard (). We thank the Lord that He did not neglect us, mired in sins, but came and saved us.

Irmoses of the 7th and 8th odes of the canon are based on the songs of three Jewish youths thrown into the fiery Babylonian furnace. This event is also a description of Christian martyrdom.

The 7th ode of the canon is a solo thanksgiving song of one of the three youths - Azariah. The following phrases are often found here: “Blessed are you, Lord God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is your name forever”, “all your works are true”, “God of our fathers”, “God, blessed are you.”

The 8th song of the canon is the common song of the three youths: Ananias, Azariah, Misail. In fact, this is a continuation of the previous song, for convenience it is separated into a separate song. In the irmos of the 8th song there are phrases: “Bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord”, “sing and exalt to all ages”, “let the whole creation bless the Lord”, “let us bless Christ forever”, “unceasingly to all ages”.

Between the 8th and 9th odes of the canon, a song is sung in honor of the Mother of God, beginning with the words “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior,” with a chorus "The most honest Cherubim and the most glorious Seraphim without comparison."

Before this glorification of the Mother of God, the deacon censes the altar and the right side of the iconostasis. Then, stopping in front of the icon of the Mother of God in the iconostasis, he traces the sign of the Cross in the air with a censer and proclaims: “Theotokos and Mother of Light, let us exalt in songs” and then burns the whole temple incense.

The 9th ode glorifies God with the prayer of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel" ( ; ).

After the canon, a small litany is heard for the last time at the Vespers. At the Sunday All-Night Vigil, after the small litany and the exclamation of the priest, the deacon proclaims "Holy is the Lord our God." The same words are repeated in chorus three times.

As you can see, there are many layers in worship that appeared in different eras. There are many meanings, a verbal treasury of the theological and poetic wealth of the Church.

And it's a pity when all this passes us by. For us who are hungry for spiritual food, the Church offers precious treasures for the mind and the salvation of the soul. But we rarely even notice this, perceiving the divine service as a kind of beautiful noise, as a time that, according to tradition, must be defended in the temple.

Happy is he who understands the meaning of what is happening in the temple. He enters the Sacred History not only with his mind, but also physically, meaningfully continues the joy and repentance of the ancient righteous.

Happy is he who sings a song to God from the depths of his grateful heart. Because it's not just a repetition of ancient words. This is evidence that our soul is overwhelmed with living feelings for God, that for us worship and rites are not just a pious tradition, but the song of our soul. And although there are many songs in our lives, this one is the only important song on Earth.

PART 6. About the Great Doxology

Today, many perceive the Church as something positive, but has already said its last word in history.“Yes, we remember, at one time she contributed to the formation of Russian culture, writing and the formation of statehood. Yes, it gave Russia a number of famous historical figures. Yes, there were many other merits. But today, what can the Church say to Russians in the 21st century? Why visit the temple so often? What is so important happening in the temple to tear off the sweetest hours of sleep and rest from your days off after a hard working week and dedicate them to the temple?”

The “religiosity” that is widespread today completely allows the layman to combine the incompatible: "God is in the soul, and the body is in the store or in front of the TV."

Moreover, it is no secret that the life of the Church is incomprehensible to people who rarely visit it. And not only because of the difficult language of worship and various symbols. The Church and secular society have different views on many fundamental issues of life - marriage, family, fidelity, morality, chastity, continuity of traditions, etc.

But what is the Church? These are not some bearded elders behind high walls with gilded crosses and domes. The Church is all of us bearing the name of Christ. And something more than our moral character depends on what is in our heads, what our actions are inspired by and what they are, our actions.

We remind the world of the meaning of its existence. We, different and far from perfect, gather in churches to glorify God, and this is our only, inestimably important message to the world. A world losing its mind without God.

***

After the canon, a short text is read in the morning , briefly speaking about the spiritual essence of the holiday and bearing the special name "light", which roughly translates as "heralding the approach of light." In the Sunday canon, this hymn is called the Greek word "exapostilarium" - from the verb "I send", because in ancient times the singer was sent from the kliros to the middle of the temple to sing this hymn.

On the days of major holidays, this luminary can be sung by the choir.

After this, the choir sings stichera beginning with the words "Let every breath praise the Lord". They, like at Vespers, are dedicated to special, glorifying, "praising" God psalms - the 148th, 149th and 150th. Therefore they are called "Poems for Praises".

The content of the “stichera for praise”, like other stichera for Vespers, praises the evangelical or church event that is being celebrated on a given day or the memory of the saint being celebrated.

The stichera ends with the majestic singing of one of the oldest Christian hymns - great doxology (IV century). Great, because it is quite large in text. Based on an angel song "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" sung at the Birth of Jesus Christ () and excerpts from the psalms, the doxology is complex in content. It glorifies God and contains requests for salvation from sin, healing of the soul, knowledge of the will of God. The text is ancient, so there are practically no petitions for our earthly needs - healing from illnesses, for example, and help in everyday affairs.

So the Church constantly reminds us of what is important and what is secondary in our life.

In ancient times, it was the custom to distribute the hymns and readings of the night service so that the singing of the lamp and the doxology, symbolizing the light that came into the world through the birth of Christ, fell on the appearance of the first rays of the rising sun.

This custom has survived to this day on Mount Athos and in some other monasteries. That's why after the singing of the stichera, the chandeliers shine again on the praises, and in the open Royal Doors a priest is seen glorifying Christ: "Glory to Thee, Who hast shown us the light."

Doxology is usually sung to beautiful tunes. Some are so beautiful that you can't make out the words behind them. A pity - the text is important for a Christian.

The singing of the doxology to the Trisagion ends “Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us!” and the troparion of the day - a short chant that reveals the meaning of the holiday.

After the restrained and sublime text of the Great Doxology, we now pray in more detail for our basic, daily needs. The deacon on the pulpit reads the "double" and "excruciating" litany, as at Vespers.

At the end of the second litany, the priest turns to face us and blesses with the words “Peace to all!”, and then mentally reads a prayer. In ancient times, it was read aloud:“Lord, holy one, living on the heights and lower (located below, on earth) looking around, and with Your all-seeing eye looking at all creation! Before You, we bowed down in soul and body and pray to You, Holy of Holies: stretch out Your invisible hand from Your holy dwelling and bless us all, and if we have sinned in any way, voluntarily or involuntarily, You, as a good and philanthropic God, forgive us, granting us Thy blessings necessary for life in the world and for the spiritual life.

The All-Night Vigil ends just as it began - with the doxology of the Holy Trinity, after which the priest, facing us, says “release” - a prayer that “let us go” from the church, blessing us to leave the common service. It recalls the saints of the temple and the day being celebrated, and joins a request to God for our mercy and salvation.

Following the last blessing of the priest, the choir sings for many years to the Patriarch, the ruling bishop, rector and parishioners, the royal doors are closed, the chandeliers are turned off and… let's go? No, not yet. The "First Hour" is read - the last, final part of the All-Night Vigil.

Watch(Greek ὧραι) - Christian public prayers, consecrating a certain time of day.

Like the rest of the clock The first hour consists of three psalms and various prayers. In modern practice, all this is readable. The people, tired of the long service, no longer listen to the reader, and are going home. But if you listen carefully, and also look at the translation of the text, you can get spiritual benefit. After all, the First Hour is not just a reading of “something” for the sake of observing the ancient institutions, but a meaningful recollection of the events of the Holy History and prayers that sanctify the morning.

In three psalms - 5, 89 and 100, which are read at the First Hour, as well as in other prayers of this hour, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise is remembered, about that morning hour when Christ was brought to the judgment of Caiaphas.

In the prayers of the hour, we ask God to "early hear our voice" and help in the affairs of the day.

Following the prayer “Who is for all time…”, the priest humbly leaves the altar in stole, without shiny robes. In twilight, he ends the First Hour with a prayer to Christ, in which He is glorified as "the true light that enlightens every person who comes into the world." “Christ, true Light, enlightening and sanctifying every person who comes into the world! Imprint on us the light of Your face, that we may see in Him the unapproachable light, and direct our steps towards the fulfillment of Your commandments, through the prayers of Your Most Pure Mother and all Your saints. Amen".

At the end of the prayer, the priest bows before the icon of the Mother of God in the iconostasis, and the choir sings a song of victory in Her honor, “The victorious Chosen Governor.” In translation, it sounds like this:“To the Commander who defends us, for deliverance from terrible troubles, we, Your servants, Mother of God, celebrate thanksgiving celebrations! But You, as having invincible power, deliver us from all dangers, but we cry out to You: Rejoice (we welcome You), Bride who has not known marriage!

Then the priest says "release" again, this time briefly. The choir sings "Lord, have mercy" three times , in some churches they will add a few more popular chants in honor of the Virgin and saints. And now that's it.

***

We go out of the temple into the world.

As born again, newly accepted the grace of the Orthodox faith.

Just as when singing the exapostilary, the singer was sent from the kliros to the center of the temple, just as the apostles left Jerusalem to different ends of the universe, so we are sent into the world to return to the temple again after the sermon.

Yes, sermons. Because after we have taken upon ourselves the name of Christ, our actions and words are preaching.

This sermon is entrusted to all of us - Orthodox Christians who attend common church services, including the All-Night Vigil. We, regardless of the degree of spiritual growth, with one mouth glorify God and testify before the whole world about the transforming action of Orthodoxy, the unceasing action of God in this world.

Therefore, paradoxically, we - the unreasonable ones - are called to the Church in order to return reason to the crazy world that surrounds us. Return through the transformation of your life.

The temple is not only a place where you can run when it's bad. The temple is the embassy of our heavenly Motherland. And it depends on us, who prayed at Vespers, how much our country will not only remember the glorious Orthodox pages of its past, but will also live pleasing to God, truly Orthodox.

It would be good to love the All-Night Vigil so much that every Saturday and holiday evening would be empty without it, so that the soul would call to the temple.

And the Lord will not leave us and will visit with love our heart, worn out in worldly storms.

hegumen Siluan (Tumanov)

Story

The practice of the Old Testament Church did not know regular night prayer. But already in the writings of the apostles we find frequent mention of all-night prayers: Luke 6, 12; 9, 28; Matt. 26, 36; Acts. 16:25. Paul writes about frequent vigils: 2 Cor. 6, 5; 11, 27.

Instruction to be vigilant and sober, to remember the Second Coming of Christ: 1 Pet. 5, 8; 1 Cor. 16, 13; Qty. 4, 2; 1 Thess. 5.6; open 3, 2 - 3; 16.15; pray without ceasing: 1 Thess. 5, 17; Eph. 6, 18.

In the records of the western pilgrim Egeria (Eger. Itiner.) we find detailed information about the night vigil services in Jerusalem and its environs in.

The All-Night Vigil was the main difference between the Jerusalem Typicon and the original Studite.

By-Laws and Established Practice

Composition and symbolism

It usually consists of Great Vespers with Litiya and Blessing of the Loaves, Festive Matins, and the First Hour.

The symbolism of the service is the history of the Church: both the Old Testament and the New Testament and the expectation of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Distinctive features of Vespers as part of the vigil:

1. begins not with the usual exclamation, but with the exclamation of Matins Glory to the Saints;
2. the preliminary psalm 103 is not read, but is sung and accompanied by incense of the entire church;
3. According to the petitionary litany - litia and the blessing of bread (it is not performed on the usual Sunday vigil, with the exception of the preparatory weeks for Great Lent, the first (Triumph of Orthodoxy) and the third (Cross) weeks of Great Lent).

Matins is performed in full according to the order of the festive or Sunday; begins with the reading of the Six Psalms. At the end of the festive (but not Sunday) Matins, the charter prescribes anointing with oil "from the candil of the saint." According to the practice of the Russian Church that has developed in half, anointing with oil occurs at every all-night vigil.

The use of the term in modern speech

In accordance with the traditional literary usage, one should say: go to vespers; return from vespers etc. However, due to the loss of church language culture, in the middle of the 20th century, the use of the preposition on the and With respectively.

Also, in common speech, the term is used in relation to the nightly Easter service, which in reality, according to the practice established in the Russian Church, consists of the midnight office, matins, Easter hours and the liturgy.

see also

Notes

Literature

1. // Theological writings. M., 1978. No. 18. 5-117.
2. Uspensky N.D., LDA professor. The rite of all-night vigil in the Orthodox East and in the Russian Church // Theological writings. M., 1978. No. 19. 3-70.

Links

• A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF ORTHODOX SERVICES. All-night vigil
• Liturgy of the Russian Church X - XX centuries. // Orthodox Encyclopedia, Volume " Russian Orthodox Church»

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Modern Encyclopedia

- (all-night vigil) the service of the Orthodox Church, performed on the eve of Sundays and individual holidays. Combines the services of Great Vespers, Matins, and the 1st Hour. Authors of musical cycles called Vespers for choir a cappella: P. I. ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Vespers (vigil), polyeleos Dictionary of Russian synonyms. all-night n., number of synonyms: 4 vigil (5) ... Synonym dictionary

Vespers- (all-night vigil), the service of the Orthodox Church, performed on the eve of Sundays and individual holidays. It originated in Byzantium, in Russia from the 11th century. Combines the services of Great Vespers, Matins, and the 1st Hour. From the 2nd half of the 19th century. spread like... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- [shn], all-night service, for women. (church.). Evening church service for Orthodox Christians. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

- [shn], oh, female. For the Orthodox: a church pre-holiday evening (sometimes lasting even at night) service. Have an all-night to be. Go to Vespers. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

all-night service- all-night. Pronounced [all-night] ... Dictionary of pronunciation and stress difficulties in modern Russian