Rehearsal Schedule through December, 2008

Saturday, December 1, just prior to Compline at Xenias. Rehearsal at 5:00 pm

Saturday, December 8, 4:45 pm, probably in the residence

Sunday, December 16th, after trapeza

Sunday, December 23rd, after trapeza

How They Sing in Heaven

Church Music in Georgia

by Rumwold Leigh for The Way

When you come to Georgia you can visit a number of attractions. All of them cost money. One of the finest experiences you can have in any country however comes at the price of a candle. No visit to Georgia is complete without a visit to a Georgian Orthodox church. The churches themselves are the most distinctive buildings in Georgia and you cannot go very far without spotting one. They are open all day long and conduct a full range of services to congregations that seem to gather at any hour of the day or night. The vigil every Saturday evening and liturgy on Sundays and Feast Days are cultural experiences of the highest quality and among the finest things Georgia has ever produced.

You do not have to speak Georgian to understand what is going on. You open your ears and look at people’s faces. The Georgian Orthodox Church is renowned for its fidelity to Orthodox tradition and the supreme quality of its music. Georgian Church music has developed a distinct national style which happens to combine the best elements of other Orthodox traditions, due to the instinctive taste of the Georgian people. The relevance of that taste and the music which it produced are there for all to see.

Georgian Church music is distinguished by its triphonic structure, which creates an effect similar to the Western Barber Shop Quartet. Most typically three separate melodies are intertwined in one shifting close harmony, which floats along both with and in apparent opposition to the words. You never know exactly what is coming next. You may not be able to understand the words, but the music they are set to is fascinating and very satisfying to listen to. If you did not know beforehand what the music was supposed to be you would quickly understand that it was religious in character. Some musicologists claim that polyphonic singing actually originated in Georgia. Certainly it was well established in the country hundreds of years before Western Europe adopted it. Georgian folk music which is more widely known shares the same structure. This gives it a similarly inspiring character, which is probably the reason it is more serious in intent than comparable folk music from other majority Orthodox nations.

Church music is usually assumed to be as ancient as the Orthodox Church itself. In fact in most cases a ‘standard Church music’ has developed much more recently. Georgian Church music of today is a product of the Georgian national revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This has affected not only its content but its style. In 1811 the Georgian Church was incorporated into the Russian Church and Georgian language and music were suppressed. The Georgian Church declared itself independent in 1917, only to be harassed by invading Soviet forces. Not till 1943 did the Moscow Patriarchate acknowledge the independence of the Georgian Church which had been established nationally fifteen centuries before, more than five centuries before Russia itself became Orthodox. It has been stated that the Byzantine chant reflects the profound sadness found in icons. Georgian melodies similarly reflect this sadness but their harmonies are almost defiant. There is always the sense that ultimate triumph is there under the surface. This is of course a fundamental Christian message.

Each Orthodox musical tradition has its own adherents. Russian music is the easiest on the Western ear due to our exposure to Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninov, each of whom was also a significant Church composer. Its mournful melodies and preponderance of minor keys are very familiar. Greek music is both richly melodic and tonally compressed at the same time, creating a drone effect underpinning the melody whether or not a drone (ison) is actually used. The standard Serbian music of Stevan Mokranjac (1856-1914) has clearer melodies and harmonies than are common in the Orthodox Church, whilst the Romanian style reflects the semi-Latinate nature of the Romanian people and Bulgarian music sounds exactly what it is – a nineteenth century addition of a Slavic mood to previously dominant Greek forms. Georgian chant has something for everybody. You would be hard pressed to find an Orthodox Christian from anywhere who did not like it when they hear it or acknowledge it as one of the finest examples of the genre.

Attending Georgian churches is a treat but is not for the faint hearted. Even insignificant suburban churches are so packed with people you can hardly move and the attitude of prayer is not one of quiet reflection but fervency. These people love God and almost compete against each other to show it. The choirs are what you would therefore expect. In every parish they have found choristers of a higher standard than is usual even in the rest of the Orthodox Church, which is rightly celebrated for the general quality of its singers. Their proficiency is even more remarkable when we consider that Church music was banned for thirty years during Soviet rule. Georgian Church music and the splendour of its performance are truly a hymn of praise to Our Saviour.

Most people have heard of the Georgian Church and its music but few have had first hand experience. Greater exposure to them will demonstrate to anyone why every bus and car here is festooned with icons and no one questions the fundamental importance of the Church in Georgian national life.

Bell Ringing

Bells and Russian Orthodox Peals

Bells are one of the most essential elements of an Orthodox Church. In the "Order of the Blessing of Bells" we read, "So let all that hear them ring, either during the day or at night, be inspired to the glorification of Thy saints."

Church-bell ringing is used to:

Summon the faithful to the divine services.

Express the triumphal joy of the Church and Her divine services.

Announce to those not present in the church the times of especially important moments in the services.

In addition, in some cites in Old Russia, bells summoned the people to gatherings. Also, bells were used to guide those lost in bad weather, and announced various dangers or misfortunes such as fires or floods. In days of peril to the nation they called the people to her defense. Bells proclaimed military victories and greeted those returning from the field of battle. Thus bells played a great part in the life of the Russian people. Bells were usually hung in special belltowers constructed over the Entry to a church or beside it.

Bells did not come, into use immediately after the appearance of Christianity. In the Old Testament Church, in the Temple in Jerusalem, the faithful were summoned to services not with bells, but with trumpets. In the first centuries of Christianity, when the Church was persecuted by the pagans, Christians had no opportunity to openly call the faithful to services. At that time, they were secretly summoned either by one of the deacons or special messengers, or sometimes the. bishop himself at the end of a service would reveal the time and place of the next one.

Following the cessation of persecutions in the fourth century, various means came into use to summon the faithful. More specific means were found in the sixth century when the sound of boards or iron hoops, beaten with hammers, summoned the faithful. Eventually the most perfect means of calling the faithful to the services was devised, pealing bells.

The first bells, as is well known, appeared in Western Europe. There is a tradition by which the invention of bells is ascribed to St. Paulinus the Bishop of Nola (411) at the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. Several versions of this tradition exist. In one, St. Paulinus saw some field flowers in a dream, daffodils, which gave forth a pleasant sound. When he awoke the bishop ordered bells cast, which had the form of these flowers. But, evidently, St. Paulinus did not introduce bells into the practice of the Church, since neither in his works nor in the works of his contemporaries are bells mentioned. Only in the beginning of the seventh century did the Pope of Rome, Sabinian, successor to St. Gregory the Dialogist, succeed in giving bells a Christian significance. From this period, bells began gradually to be used by Christians, and in the course of the eighth and ninth centuries in Western Europe, bells properly became part of Christian liturgical practice.

In the East, in the Greek Church, bells came into use in the second half of the ninth century, when in 865, the Doge of Venice, Ursus, gave the Emperor Michael a gift of twelve large bells. These bells were hung in a tower near Hagia Sophia Cathedral. But bells did not come into general use among the Byzantines.

In Russia, bells appeared almost simultaneously with the reception of Christianity by St. Vladimir (988 A.D.). Wooden boards and metal hoops beaten with hammers were also used and still are in some monasteries. But strangely enough, Russia took bells not from Greece from whence she received Orthodoxy, but from Western Europe. The very word "kolokol" comes from the German word "glocke." The Slavonic word is "kampan" which comes from the Roman province of Campania where the first bells, made of bronze, were cast. Initially the bells were small, and each church had only two or three.

In the fifteenth century special factories for bell casting appeared, where bells of huge proportions were made. In the bell tower of Ivan the Great in Moscow, for example, are the "Everyday" bell weighing 36,626 pounds; the bell "reyute" weighing 72,000 pounds; and the largest bell, called "Dormition," which weighs around 144,000 pounds.

The largest bell in the world at present is the "Tsar Bell." It stands on a stone pedestal at the base of the bell tower of Ivan the Great. There is no equal to it in the world, not only in dimension and weight, but in the fine art of casting. The "Tsar Bell" was poured by Russian masters Ivan and Mikail Matorin, father and son, in 1733-1735. Material for the "Tsar Bell" was taken from its predecessor, a gigantic bell which had been damaged in a fire. This bell weighed 288,000 pounds and was cast by the master craftsman, Alexander Grigoriev, in 1654. To the 288,000 pounds of base metal was added more than 80,000 pounds of alloy. In all, the total weight of the Tsar Bell is 218 American tons. The diameter of the bell is 6 meters, 60 centimeters, or 21 feet, 8 inches.

This amazing product of casting was never successfully hung for it was severely damaged in a terrible and devastating fire in 1737. Still in its casting form on a wooden scaffolding, it is not known whether or not it was ever hung from this scaffolding. When the wooden scaffolding caught fire, they started to throw water on it. The red hot bell developed many large and small cracks due to the extreme change in temperature, and a large piece, weighing 11,000 kilograms (11.5 tons), fell from the bell.

After the fire, the "Tsar Bell" lay in its casting form for a whole century. In 1836, the bell was lifted out and placed on a stone pedestal, the project of the architect A. Montferrand, the builder of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column in Petersburg. It stands on this pedestal now with the fallen piece of the bell leaning at the foot of the pedestal. Such is the fate of the largest bell in the world, the "Tsar Bell," which was never rung.

The largest working bell is the "Dormition" bell, located in Moscow, at the bell tower of Ivan the Great. Its pealing gave the signal to begin the festive ringing of the bells of all the Moscow churches on Pascha night. Thus, the Russian Orthodox people loved the ringing of the church bells and enriched the craft with their innovation and art.

The distinguishing quality of Russian bells is their sonority and melodiousness. This is attained by various techniques:

An exact proportion of bronze and tin, often with silver added, the proper alloy.
The height of the bell and its width, the right proportions.
The thickness of the walls of the bell.
The correct hanging of the bell.
The correct composition of the tongue and its manner of being hung in the bell.

Russians call the dapper, the tongue. The Russian bell is distinguished from the Western European bell in that it is fixed in position, and the clapper moves and strikes the sides of the bell, which produces the sound. It is characteristic that the Russian people call the movable part of the bell the "tongue," enabling the bell to have a living voice and trumpet. Truly, with what other name, if not a talking one, can one call the bell?

On the days of great feasts the sound of the bell reminds us of the blessedness of Heaven. On the days of great saints, it reminds us of the eternal repose of the dwellers of Heaven. During the days of Holy Week, it reminds us of our reconciliation with God through Christ the Saviour. On the days of Bright Week, it proclaims the victory of life over death and the eternal, endless joy of the future life in the Kingdom of Christ.

Is it not a mouth that speaks when the bell tells us of each passing hour, and reminds us of the passage of time and of eternity when there should be time no longer (Rev. 10:6).

Announcing the glory of the name of Christ, day and night, from the heights of a church of God, the sound of bells reminds us of the words of the Lord, the Pantocrator, spoken through the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah, "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night" (Is. 62:6). It is not by chance that pagans, when they heard the sound of bells, often said, "that is the voice of the Christian God."

The sound of one church bell is something exalted and solemn, and if there are several bells in harmony with each other, then a more magnificent sonority is sounded. A moving peal of bells acts upon our inner feelings and awakens our souls from spiritual slumber. What grieved, despondent, and often irritating tones are evoked by church bells in the soul of an evil and impious apostate. The feelings of discomfort and weariness of soul are evoked by the sound of the bell in the soul of a perpetual sinner. But in the soul of the faithful, who seek peace with God the Lord, the church bell awakens a bright, joyous, and serene disposition. Thus a person can define the state of his soul by means of the sound of bells.

One can bring forth examples from life, when a man, exhausted from fighting life's bitterness, and fallen into despair and despondency, decides to take his own life. Then he hears the church bell. Preparing to commit suicide, he trembles, becomes afraid, and involuntarily guards himself with the sign of the Cross. It recalls the Heavenly Father, and new, good feelings arise in his soul, and the one who was perishing forever returns to life. Thus, in the strokes of a church bell there is hidden a wonderful power, which penetrates deeply into the soul of mankind.

Having loved the sound of the church bell, Orthodox people associate it with all their festive and sorrowful events. Therefore, the sound of the Orthodox belltower serves not only to indicate the time of divine services, but also to express joy, grief and festivity. Various forms of bell ringing, each with their own name and meaning, developed to express this range of feelings.

The Forms of Bell Ringing and Their Names

The manner of church bell ringing is divided into two basic forms: 1. the measured ringing of the bell to announce church services, and 2. ringing of all the bells.

Ringing to Announce Church Services

By the "announcement of church services" is meant the measured strokes of one large bell. By this sound, the faithful are called together to the temple of God for divine services. In Russian it is known as the "Good news bell" because it announces the blessed, good news of the beginning of divine services.

The "good news peal" is accomplished thus. First there are produced three widely spaced, slow, prolonged strokes, so as to sustain the sound of the bell, followed by measured strokes. If the bell is very heavy or of great dimensions, the measured strokes are produced by the swinging of the clapper from side to side of the bell. If the bell is of medium size, then its clapper is drawn sufficiently close to the rim by a rope. The rope is attached to a wooden foot pedal, and with pressure from the bell-ringer's feet, the sound is produced.

The "good news peal" is subdivided in turn into two types:

The usual or hourly peal, produced with the largest bell.
The lenten or occasional peal, produced on the next largest bell on weekdays of the Great Fast.

If the church has several large bells, as is usually the case in cathedrals or large monasteries, then the size of the bells corresponds to their significance:

the holiday bell,
the Sunday bell,
the polyeleos bell,
the daily bell, and
the fifth, or small bell. Usually in parishes there are no more that two or three large bells.
The ringing of all the bells is subdivided as follows:

Trezvon (Peal) - thrice-sounded, multiple bell ringing. This is the simultaneous ringing of all the bells, then a brief pause, a second ringing of all the bells, again a brief pause, and a third ringing of all the bells, that is to say, a simultaneous ringing of all the bells three times, or a ringing in three refrains.

Dvuzvon - twice rung. This is the simultaneous ringing of all the bells twice, in two refrains.
Perezvon (Chain Ringing) - this is the ringing of each bell in turn, with either one or several strokes of each bell, beginning with the largest to the very smallest, and then repeating several times.

Perebor (Toll) - This is the slow, single peal of each bell in turn, beginning with the smallest to the largest, and after the stroke on the largest bell all the bells are immediately struck together; then this is repeated several times.


The Use of the Bells and its Meaning

Bells For All Night Vigil

Before the beginning of the All Night Vigil - the "good news peal," which concludes with the simultaneous ringing of all the bells, or the trezvon.

At the beginning of the reading of the Six Psalms comes the twice-rung, simultaneous peal, the dvuzvon. The dvuzvon announces the beginning of the second part of the All Night Vigil - Matins. It expresses the joy of the Resurrection of Christ, the incarnation of the Second person of the Holy Trinity, our Lord, Jesus Christ. The beginning of Matins, as we know, recalls the Birth of Christ, and begins with the doxology of the angels in their revelation to the shepherds of Bethlehem, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men. In popular usage, the twice-rung bell at the All Night Vigil is called the second-bell (the second bell peal after the beginning of the Allnight Vigil).

At the time of the singing of the polyeleos, before the reading of the Gospel, the trezvon, the thrice performed, simultaneous ringing of all the bells, is rung, expressing joy in celebrating the event. At the Sunday All Night Vigil, this ringing expresses the joy and festivity of the Resurrection of Christ. In some localities it is performed at the time of the chanting, "In that we have beheld the Resurrection of Christ..." Customarily in guide books, this peal is called the "bells before the Gospel." In popular usage, the trezvon in the All Night Vigil (the bells before the Gospel) is called the "third ringing."

At the beginning of the Song of the Most-holy Theotokos, "My soul doth magnify the Lord...," occurs a short good news peal, composed of nine strokes of the large bell (customary in Kiev and in all of Little Russia).

On Great Feasts, at the conclusion of the Vigil, the trezvon occurs.

At Pontifical services, after every All Night Vigil, the trezvon is rung, accompanying the bishop as he leaves the church.


The bells for the Liturgy

Before the beginning of the reading of the Third Hour, the good news peal for the Liturgy is rung, and at the end of the Sixth Hour, before the beginning of the Liturgy, the trezvon.

If two Liturgies are served (an early one and a later one), then the good news peal for the early Liturgy is simpler and slower than the one for the later Liturgy, and it is customarily done not using the large bell.

At Pontifical divine services, the good news peal for the Liturgy begins at the indicated time. As the bishop approaches the church, the trezvon is rung. When the bishop enters the church, the trezvon ceases and the good news peal resumes and continues throughout the vesting of the bishop. At the end of the Sixth Hour, the trezvon is rung again. Then, during the Liturgy, the good news peal is rung at the beginning of the Eucharistic Canon, the most important part of the Liturgy, to announce the time of the sanctification and the transformation of the Holy Gifts.

According to T.K. Nikolsky, in the book Ustav Bogosluzhenia, it is said that the good news peal before "It is Meet" begins with the words, "It is meet and right to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit" and continues until the chanting of "It is truly meet to bless Thee, the Theotokos." It is also the instruction in the Book Novaia Skrizhal by Archbishop Benjamin (published in S.P.B., 1908, p. 213.).

In practice, the good news peal for "It is meet..." is shorter, composed of twelve strokes. In southern Russia the good news peal for "It is meet..." is performed customarily before the beginning of the Eucharistic Canon, at the time of the chanting of the Creed (12 strokes, 1 stroke for each clause of the Creed). The good news peal before "It is meet...," according to the custom of Russian churches was introduced during the time of Patriarch Joachim of Moscow (1690 A.D.), similar to the custom of the West, where they ring during the words "Take, eat..."

At the conclusion of the Liturgy on all Great Feasts the trezvon is rung. Also, after every Liturgy served by a bishop the trezvon is rung to accompany the bishop as he leaves the church.

On the feast of the Nativity, the trezvon is rung all the day of the feast, from Liturgy until Vespers. Also, on the feast of the Resurrection of Christ Pascha.

The good news peal before Bright Matins begins before the All-night Vigil and continues until the Procession of the Cross, and the festive trezvon is rung from the beginning of the Procession of the Cross to its end and even longer.

Before the Paschal Liturgy, the good news peal and the trezvon are rung. During the Paschal Liturgy itself, at the time of the Gospel reading, the perezvon is rung, with seven strokes on each bell (the number seven expresses the fullness of the glory of God). This festive ringing of bells signals the homily on the Gospel of Christ in all languages. Upon completion of the reading of the Gospel, the perezvon concludes with the joyful, victorious trezvon.

During all of Bright Week, the trezvon occurs every day, from the end of the Liturgy until Vespers. On all Sundays from Pascha until Ascension, after the Liturgy the trezvon is rung.

On the feast day of a church, at the conclusion of the Liturgy before the beginning of the Moleben, the short good news peal and the trezvon are rung, and at the conclusion of the Moleben, the trezvon.

Whenever there is a procession around the church, the trezvon is rung.

Before the Royal Hours, the good news peal is usually rung on the large bell, and before the Great Holy Week Hours, the Lenten good news peal in rung on the small bell. As at the Royal Hours, so also at the Great Holy Week Hours before each Hour the bell is rung. Before the Third Hour the bell is struck three times, before the Sixth Hour, six times and before the Ninth Hour, nine times. Before the Typica and Great Compline, twelve times. If during the fast a feast day is celebrated, then for the Hours they do not strike separately for each Hour.

On Matins of Good Friday, when the Twelve Gospel Readings of the Lord's Passion are read, besides the usual good news peal and trezvon at the beginning of matins, there is a good news peal before each Gospel reading: before the first Gospel reading - one stroke on the large bell, before the second gospel reading - two strokes, before the third Gospel reading - three strokes, and so forth.

Upon conclusion of Matins, as the faithful carry the "Holy Thursday fire" to their homes, the trezvon is rung.



Missionary Leaflet # E50a
Copyright © 2001 Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission
466 Foothill Blvd, Box 397, La Canada, Ca 91011
Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

Unto the Mother of God

We rehearsed Arkhangelsky's Unto the Mother of God adapted by Michael Hilko today following trapeza. It is the troparion of the Canon to the Mother of God, which can be found here.

You can find one version of it here; its #5, and there is a midi for you to listen to. Its not exactly the same, but you get the general idea.

There is a clip of it here at #6.

We will rehearse this intensively for the next few weeks until we have it down pat, and then we will take it up again when we get close to St. Philip's Fast in November.

New Music

The new Let Our Mouths Be Filled that we will be working on can be found on page 351 of the "old" green liturgy book, and also here:

http://www.musicarussica.com/titledet.lasso?-database=musrus_titles&-response=titledet.lasso&-layout=Item_Detail&-op=eq&mus_rus_ID=%22HNP%20016%22&-search

If you click here, you will be taken to it. A window will pop up asking you to click to run an ActiveX control - go ahead and click yes, because that is what will allow you to listen to a choir singing this piece. You can also see a pdf of the music on this page as well.

We will also begin work on a special Theotokos hymn by John Warren which we will sing only during Advent. You can find it here:

http://www.musicarussica.com/titledet.lasso?-database=musrus_titles&-response=titledet.lasso&-layout=Item_Detail&-op=eq&mus_rus_ID=%22HNP%20009%22&-search

Just like the previous one, click here, and you will be taken to the ActiveX control which will allow you to listen to it. It is very, very beautiful, and will really add to our Advent Liturgy and make it special, since there is no specific Theotokos hymn specified in the rubrics, like there is during Great Lent.

The origin of "It Is Truly Meet"

Today, June 11th, is the Commemoration of the Appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to a Monk on Mt. Athos, and the Revelation of the Hymn, "It Is Truly Meet..." Or Axion Estin

The "It is Truly Meet" Icon of the Mother of God is in the high place of the altar of the cathedral church of the Karyes monastery on Mount Athos.

One Saturday night an Elder went to Karyes for the all-night Vigil. He left, instructing his disciple to remain behind and read the service in their cell. As it grew dark, the disciple heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he saw an unknown monk who called himself Gabriel, and he invited him to come in. They stood before the icon of the Mother of God and read the service together with reverence and compunction.

During the Ninth Ode of the Canon, the disciple began to sing "My soul magnifies the Lord…" with the Irmos of St Cosmas the Hymnographer (October 14), "More honorable than the Cherubim…." The stranger sang the next verse, "For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden…."

Then he chanted something the disciple had never heard before, "It is truly meet to bless Thee, O Theotokos, ever-blessed and most pure, and the Mother of our God…"

Then he continued with, "More honorable than the Cherubim.…"

While the hymn was being sung, the icon of the Theotokos shone with a heavenly light. The disciple was moved by the new version of the familiar hymn, and asked his guest to write the words down for him. When the stranger asked for paper and ink, the disciple said that they did not have any. The stranger took a roof tile and wrote the words of the hymn on its surface with his finger. The disciple knew then that this was no ordinary monk, but the Archangel Gabriel. The angel said, "Sing in this manner, and all the Orthodox as well." Then he disappeared, and the icon of the Mother of God continued to radiate light for some time afterward.

The Eleousa Icon of the Mother of God, before which the hymn "It Is Truly Meet" was first sung, was transferred to the katholikon at Karyes. The tile, with the hymn written on it by the Archangel Gabriel, was taken to Constantinople when St Nicholas Chrysoberges (December 16) was Patriarch.

Numerous copies of the "It Is Truly Meet" Icon are revered in Russian churches. At the Galerna Harbor of Peterburg a church with five cupolas was built in honor of the Merciful Mother of God, and into it they put a grace-bearing copy of the "It Is Truly Meet" icon sent from Athos.

Rubrics for Thomas Sunday

This general pattern is repeated, with minor differences, until the leavetaking of Pascha

Paschal Beginning (done every day until the leavetaking of Pascha):
Priest: Blessed is the Kingdom . . .
Choir: Amen
Priest: Christ is Risen . . . (x 2.5)
Choir: And upon those in the tombs . . .
Priest exclaims: Christ is Risen! and people respond: Indeed He is Risen! (x3)

First and Second Antiphons as usual

Third Antiphon (Beatitudes)
8 Troparia for Thomas Sunday: 4 from Ode III and 4 from Ode VI of the Canon
8: By Thy Cross Thou didst render us new instead of old, and incorruptible instead of corruptible, O Christ; and Thou didst command us to live worthily in newness of life.
7: By Thy Cross Thou didst render us new instead of old, and incorruptible instead of corruptible, O Christ; and Thou didst command us to live worthily in newness of life.
6: Though enclosed within a grave in Thy circumscribable flesh, Thou didst arise, O Christ, Who art uncircumscribable; and while the doors were shut, Thou didst come unto Thy disciples, O Almighty One.
5: Having preserved intact Thy wounds, which Thou didst endure willingly forus, Thou didst show them unto Thy disciples, O Christ, as a witness of Thy glorious Resurrection.
4: Thou didst not leave Thomas immersed in the depth of unbelief, O Master, when he stretched forth his hands to examine Thee.
3: Thou didst not leave Thomas immersed in the depth of unbelief, O Master,when he stretched forth his hands to examine Thee.
2: Our Savior said: When ye touch Me, see that I have bones and flesh; I am not subject to change.
1: Thomas felt Thy side; and believing, he recognized Thee, though he was not present when Thou didst first come, O our Savior.

At the Entrance: Troparion for St. Thomas; Glory... now and ever.... Kontakion for St. Thomas

The Prokeimenon in the Third Tone:
Great is our God and abundant in power! / His understanding is beyond measure!
vs: Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God!

Epistle: Acts 5:12-20 beginning with "At that time"


vs: Come let us rejoice in the Lord! Let us make a joyful noise to God our Saviour!
vs: For the Lord is a great God, and a great king over all the earth.

Gospel: John 20:19-31

Instead of "It is truly meet . . .,"The angel cried . . .Shine! Shine! . . .- - - - -

Communion hymn:
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!

Communion of the Clergy: Canticle of Pascha "(Let God Arise")

People's Communion: Christ is Risen!

Paschal Ending (done every day until the leavetaking of Pascha)
Priest: O Lord, save Thy people and bless . . .
Choir: Christ is Risen (instead of We have seen the True Light)
Priest: Always now and ever . . .
Choir: Amen. Let our mouths be filled . . .

Paschal Dismissal (done every day until the leavetaking of Pascha)
Priest: Glory to Thee, O Christ . . .
Choir: Christ is Risen . . . (x3)
Priest: May He who rose from the dead . . .
Priest exclaims: Christ is Risen! and people respond: Indeed He is Risen! (x3)
Choir: Christ is Risen . . (x1)
Choir: (Tone 8) And unto us He has given eternal life. Let us worship His resurrection on the third day!

April and May Rehearsal Schedule

Saturday, April 7th - Holy Saturday - no rehearsal

Saturday, April 14th - rehearsal for wedding in Helena on 4/21

Sunday, April 15th - rehearsal for wedding in Helena on 4/21

Saturday, April 21st - wedding in Helena - no rehearsal

Sunday, April 29th - rehearsal following trapeza

There are only three rehearsals scheduled for April, plus the wedding.

Beginning on April 29th, we will start getting ready for the consecration, so each rehearsal in May is vitally important. Please write them in your schedule to reserve the time.

Sunday, May 6th - rehearsal following trapeza

Sunday, May 13th - rehearsal following trapeza

Sunday, May 20th - rehearsal following trapeza

Saturday, May 26th - rehearsal at 4:45 pm prior to vespers

Thursday, May 31st and/or Friday, June 1st - rehearsal only if necessary to keep me from having a nervous breakdown.

Dear Ones, I know that Sundays are difficult for rehearsing because it makes for a very long day, but attendance on Saturdays has been quite spotty. I've scheduled mostly Sunday rehearsals for the consecration because that seems to be when the greatest number of people actually show up to rehearse.

Once the consecration is over, we can revisit scheduling of rehearsals.

The Akathist Hymn

from the Antiochian Archdiocesan website:

DID YOU KNOW ...

... that the word Akathist means "without sitting"? During the chanting and praying of the Akathist Hymn, it is proper for us all to stand and not sit.

With regards to the Akathist Hymn, traditionally speaking, there really is only one Akathist Hymn, the Akathist Hymn to the Virgin Theotokos, written by St. Romanos the Melodist in the 6th century. The entirety of this composition is properly called a Kontakion (or Kondakion), which he then named The Akathist Hymn to the Virgin Theotokos. It begins with a shorter hymn called the Koukoulion (which we know as "To Thee the Champion Leader", or "Verily, I thy city", depending on the translation) and is followed by 24 other poetic narratives, each called an Oikos (pl. Oikoi). In our modern day practice, we have greatly reduced the full Kontakion down to only its Koukoulion, and called this the Kontakion. You may also notice that after the 6th Ode of a particular Canon in the Orthros (Matins) Service, the full Kontakion has again been reduced to only the Koukoulion (which we now call the Kontakion) and the First Oikos. Furthermore, there are other compositions given the name "Akathist," such as the Akathist to the Most Holy and Life-giving Trinity; Akathist to our Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ; Akathist to the Theotokos, the Joy of All Who Sorrow; and even various Akathists to the saints, such as the Holy Great Martyr George, St. Nicholas, St. Herman of Alaska, and St. John the Baptist. There is even an Akathist for the Repose of the Departed. These may all have the form of how St. Romanos wrote his original composition, but really there is only ONE Akathist Hymn, that to the Theotokos.

The following was written over 1,400 years ago, author unknown:

Perhaps the greatest representative of the Byzantine hymnographic tradition is St. Romanos the Melode (+556), a native of Beirut and a convert from Judaism. He is considered to be the foremost master of the kontakion, a hymnographic form based on the Syrian memra which was a didactic or narrative poem which was intended to be recited rather than sung.

The Akathist Hymn to the Virgin Theotokos, the most famous of the Byzantine kontakia and the only one chanted in its entirety today, is in all probability the work of St. Romanos. This kontakion achieved great popularity in the city of Constantinople (the “City of the Virgin”). It has been called the “greatest achievement in Byzantine religious poetry.”

Although the Akathist was previously believed to have been written for the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25), there is evidence which now clearly indicates that it was used for the Synaxis of the Theotokos (December 26). The Emperor Justinian officially established its use for the Synaxis sometime between 530 and 550. The Akathist replaced an older kontakion which had been written in 431.

Soon after it was written the Akathist took on the character of a “song of victory” being used as a hymn of thanksgiving to the Theotokos for her protection. It is recorded that it was used as such on at least four occasions:

1. 626 for a victory of Heraclius I (the fifth Saturday of Great Lent)

2. 673 for a victory of Constantine IV

3. 719 for a victory of Leo III

4. 1421 for a victory of Manuel II

It was after the siege of Constantinople in 626 that the present kontakion “To Thee the Champion Leader” was added to replace what is now the apolytikion or troparion “At the magnificence of thy virginity.”

Since the victory of Heraclius I, who protected the city of Constantinople from an attack of the Persians, the Akathist has been assigned to be sung on the Fifth Saturday of Great Lent as an annual thanksgiving to the Theotokos. (* See below for the history regarding this victory.) (Today this service is celebrated as follows: On the First Saturday of Great Lent (Friday evening) we sing the First Stasis (the first six Oikoi); on the second week we sing the Second Stasis (Oikoi 7-12), etc., until the Fifth Saturday (Friday evening), when we sing the entire Akathist Hymn of 24 stanzas.)

Soon after the time of Saint Romanos, the kontakion form (in its fullness) became obsolete and was replaced by another form known as the canon (katavasias).

*The following is taken from the Synaxarion of the Saturday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent (Nassar, pages 712-173).


"In the year 620 of Christ, the Persians from the east and the Arians, a tribe of the Scythians from the west, attacked the imperial city of Contantinople with great armies to besiege and occupy it. King Heracles was then absent, and the invaders filled the sea, particularly the Gulf of Constantinople, with their ships, and the land with their infantry, cavalary, and military machines, making ready to attack. With valour and perseverance the inhabitants held back he enemy, but being greatly outnumbered and unable to cope with such a great force, they surrendered to despair, and all hope of delivery was gone. Then they sought refuge in the Theotokos, asking succour and protection. Suddenly, a violent tempest broke out in which the ships of the enemy were wrecked, sinking with all on board. The waves flung the bodies of the drowned Barbarians in front of the Church of the Theotokos in the suburb of Blachernae (commemorated on July 2nd). When the people saw this, they gained courage, went out, and exelled the remaining soldiers, who fled in fear. In the evening, the people gathered in the Church of the Theotokos, and spent the whole night, standing, thanking her and praising her with the cantons of the Canon known as Akathiston, during which it is not permitted to sit. In remembrance of this miracle, through which the faithful were saved, we celebrate this day, glorifying and honouring the Mother of our Lord and God."

From St. Basil the Great

A psalm implies serenity of soul; it is the author of peace, which calms bewildering and seething thoughts. For, it softens the wrath of the soul, and what is unbridled it chastens. A psalm forms friendships, unites those separated, conciliates those at enmity. Who, indeed, can still consider as an enemy him with whom he has uttered the same prayer to God? So that psalmody, bringing about choral singing, a bond, as it were, toward unity, and joining people into a harmonious union of one choir, produces also the greatest of blessings, love. A psalm is a city of refuge from the demons; a means of inducing help from the angels, a weapon in fears by night, a rest from the toils of the day, a safeguard for infants, an adornment for those at the height of their vigour, a consolation for the elders, a most fitting ornament for women. It peoples the solitudes; it rids the market places of excesses; it is the elementary exposition of beginners, the improvement of those advancing, the solid support of the perfect, the voice of the Church. It brightens feast days; it creates a sorrow which is in accordance with God. For, a psalm calls forth a tear even from a heart of stone. A psalm is the work of angels, a heavenly institution, the spiritual incense.

St Basil the Great

REVISED March Rehearsal Schedule

Last week I sent out a schedule of alternating Saturdays and Sundays for the month of March. Cindy called to my attention that I had scheduled rehearsal on Lazarus Saturday, which simply will not work out according to our usual liturgical practice of Divine Liturgy in the morning, fellowship followed by vespers. However, we can't afford to just SKIP that rehearsal, so the prior weekend, we will rehearse on both Saturday *and* Sunday.

Here is the revised schedule for March:

Saturday, March 3rd: 5:00 pm at Xenias prior to Reader's Compline

Sunday, March 11th: following trapeza, in the church

Saturday, March 17th: 4:45 pm at church, prior to Vespers

Saturday, March 24th: 4:45 pm at church, prior to Vespers

Sunday, March 25th: following trapeza, in the church

Last Sunday, we debuted the Theofanovskoye Anaphora. This Sunday, we will debut the Simonovsky Cherubic Hymn and will return to the Kedrov Lord's Prayer. Its very important that we rehearse these two pieces on Saturday, March 3rd, and if possible, at 9:15 am on Sunday, March 4th, just prior to Liturgy.

Other new music in our immediate future:
a two-part The Wise Thief that is so beautiful, you won't miss the other one
Paschal Troparion in Romanian

I will try to scan and post both of these asap.

February Rehearsal Schedule

Saturday, Feb 3rd: 5:00 pm at Denise's

Saturday, February 10th: 4:45 pm at Church

Sunday, February 11th: following trapeza

Saturday, Feb 17th: 4:45 pm at Church (last chance prior to the Forgiveness Vespers, Great Canon and Presanctified Liturgy)

Saturday, Feb 24th: 4:45 pm at Church (last chance prior to Sunday of Orthodoxy)

Again, please attend at least two of the four rehearsals during February

The Gates of Repentance and By the Waters of Babylon

Its time to begin singing our beloved "Open to Me the Gates of Repentance" and "By the Waters of Babylon". Here is the schedule:

January 28: (Publican and Pharisee) Open to Me after Psalm 50; the rest as usual. Thy Fatherly Embrace for Priest's Communion.

February 4: (Prodigal Son) By the Waters of Babylon after the Polieley, and Open to Me after Psalm 50; the rest as usual. Thy Fatherly Embrace for priest's communion.

February 11: (Meatfare) By the Waters of Babylon after the Polieley, and Open to Me after Psalm 50; the rest as usual. By the Waters of Babylon for priest's communion.

February 18: (Cheesefare/Forgiveness Sunday) By the Waters of Babylon after the Polieley, and Open to Me after Psalm 50; the rest as usual. By the Waters of Babylon for priest's communion.

February 25: (Sunday of Orthodoxy) Polieley is not sung, and neither is By the Waters of Babylon. Sing Open to Me after Psalm 50; the rest as usual. Open to Me for Priest's Communion

March 4: (St. Gregory Palamas) Polieley is not sung, and neither is By the Waters of Babylon. Sing Open to Me after Psalm 50; the rest as usual. Open to Me for Priest's Communion

March 11: (Veneration of the Cross) Polieley is not sung, and neither is By the Waters of Babylon. Sing Open to Me after Psalm 50; the rest as usual. Open to Me for Priest's Communion.

March 18: (St. John of the Ladder) Polieley is not sung, and neither is By the Waters of Babylon. Sing Open to Me after Psalm 50; the rest as usual. Open to Me for Priest's Communion.

March 25: (St. Mary of Egypt and Annunciation) Polieley *is* sung with a special Magnification for Annunciation. After Psalm 50, Open to Me is *not* sung - the post gospel Stikhera are sung instead. With the Archangel's Voice for Priest's Communion.

April 1: (Palm Sunday) - Yay!

What is the weekly cycle of Eight Tones?

There is a tradition that St. John of Damascus (died
760) set up the system of music now used in the Orthodox Church.
It is said that he devised a scale, ascending and descending,
with the voices in octaves. From this scaled he adopted eight
tones, which he called "the principal tones." Then he elaborated
the various tones, creating several tunes for each. In actual
fact, though St. John did develop many songs and hymns for the
services and wrote music for them, the eight tones existed long
before his time -- originating in the early Church, probably in
Jerusalem or Antioch. What the system amounts to is, as inferred
by the term "Eight Tones," is eight modes or forms around which
melodies are constructed.

Traditionally then, the Church music of the Orthodox Church
has been based upon these eight tones, ranged in two groups of
four:

a. Tones 1, 2, 3, and 4.

b. Tone 5 (sometimes called first plagial, tone 6
(sometimes called second plagial), tone 7 (called also grave
tone), and 8 (sometimes called fourth plagial).

There are several forms: "Byzantine Chant" is used
throughout the Mid-East, and "Russian Chant" is used in most of
the Slavic countries, though there is considerable exchange of
music between churches (as you might imagine). In the West
(centered around Rome) the eight tones were developed into what
is called "Gregorian Chant," and in England they were called
"plainsong."

Each week has its appointed tone. On Saturday evening in
Easter week (the eve of the Sunday of St. Thomas), the cycle of
tones commences with Tone One; and so, week by week, the sequence
continues through the successive tones One to Eight, changing to
a new tone every Saturday evening. The various texts of the
hymns and chants for the Tone for the week are found in a
liturgical book called the Octoechos (a Greek word meaning "eight
tones).

The special texts of hymns and chants for fixed feasts (in
the Menaia (singular, Menaion) -- that is, books of songs and
hymns) and for days during Lent and Eastertide (in the liturgical
books called the Triodion [the book for Lent] and the
Pentecostarion [the book for the time between Easter and
Pentecost -- fifty days]) are set in various tones; and these do
not, except by coincidence, correspond with the appointed tone of
the week.

While all Orthodoxy uses the same division into eight tones,
the way in which these tones are sung varies from one Orthodox
Church to another. That is, for example, the Russians do them
quite differently from the Greeks.




Please note that the above article is kindly contributed by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.

Music for Rehearsal on January 16th

We will be changing out the Cherubic Hymn and Anaphora for Lent, and the following links will bring you to www.podoben.com where you can find the hymn for Prodigal Son Sunday as well as the Cherubic Hymn we are learning. If you have Adobe Acrobat reader, you can access the music on line as well as listen to mpegs of all four parts.

You can access the Cherubic Hymn here.

You can access Thy Fatherly Embrace here.

You can listen to both pieces online via midi files as well, but I haven't figured out how to post music files yet! Just go to www.podoben.com, click on Mixed Chorus, then click on Liturgy - its Cherubim Hymn #35. Then click on Great Lent and Thy Fatherly Embrace is the first selection under Prodigal Son Sunday.

We will also be changing out the litanies for Lent as we normally do.

Keep in mind for upcoming rehearsals that I expect to spend some time Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers this year, since we will be hosting it at our parish, and it has been quite a few years since we did so.

The Order of Services

The order of services or prayer in the Eastern Orthodox Churches is set forth in the Typicon, a volume that provides the order of church rites for all services, special prayers, and church celebrations for the whole year. The two main sources of the Typicon are the ancient Ordo of St. Sabas monastery in Palestine (the Jerusalem Ordo), and the later Studite monastery in Constantinople. These monastic centers were places where the existing practices were complied and synthesized and codified into a more standardized form.

The St. Sabas Ordo is associated with many great monastic saints in Palestine, and the churches and monasteries associated with holy places in the area around Jerusalem. The Ordo of St. Sabas developed as the Church grew, as monasticism prospered and became a normal part of Church life, and as monasticism was an important part in the battle against heresies. It became the rule of prayer for the whole Church, and reached its final synthesis in the ninth century.

The Studite Ordo is very similar in structure to the Jerusalem Ordo, and is a later synthesis that took place in the Byzantine capital. It is particularly notable for its hymnography (especially the development of the Lenten Triodion), harmonizing the more ancient Ordos, and some unique structural elements. The development of these two Ordos represents the compilation and synthesis of the liturgical form and practice of the Eastern Church and its development to a peak during the middle Byzantine period. The development of the Ordo in the Eastern Church since this period has been minimal, and possesses no change either in structure or in the expression of the rule of prayer.

What is most important to understand is the premise and motivation behind the whole concept of developing a uniform rule of prayer, and the principles underlying such an undertaking in the Byzantine tradition. Perhaps the best summary is by Fr. Schmemann in a section titled "The Byzantine Typicon" in the concluding chapter of Introduction to Liturgical Theology:

"Side by side with the true development and discovery of the Church's lex orandi [rule of prayer] there has been an obscuring of her tradition. We feel that this fact should be admitted and at least some attempt made to explain it, no matter how much this conclusion may run counter to the extraordinary widespread and blind "absolutization" of the Typicon in all its details, which exists throughout the Orthodox Church. What is truly fixed and eternal in this Ordo which has come down to us through such a complicated process, and which includes so many various layers of material? What is its essential nature as the liturgical tradition of the Church, as the "rule of prayer," which, according to the Church's teaching, contains and reveals her "rule of faith"? If we have termed the culmination of this development and building up of layer upon layer a "synthesis" rather than a hodge-podge, in what way does this synthesis have a creative and determining significance for the future? At a moment when the world in which the Church lives can no longer be called Christian in the sense in which it was Christian from the fourth to the twentieth centuries, this is the only question, which really matters.

"No restoration in history has ever been successful. Only if there is a lack of faith in the Church herself as the source of Life can the traditions of the past be dealt with on the principle "let what has been set before us remain forever!" Tradition for the Church is not the vista of a beautiful past, which can be admired in a mood of aesthetically religious nostalgia, but rather a summons and an inspiration. Only a liturgical theology, that is, a detailed study and elucidation of all the elements which form the liturgical tradition of the Church (her Sacraments, cycles, rituals and ceremonies) can provide a true answer to our question. The present work is only a very general introduction to a proposed complete course in liturgical theology. In concluding this introduction we must point to what we are convinced the Ordo shows to be the guide in the study of Orthodox worship.

"What is absolutely essential for a correct understanding of the general spirit of the Byzantine synthesis is that it was unquestionably formed on the basis of the Church's original rule of prayer, and from this point of view must be accepted as its elaboration and revelation, no matter how well developed are the elements which are alien to this lex orandi and which have obscured it. Thus in spite of the strong influence of the mysteriological psychology on the one hand and the ascetical-individualistic psychology on the other, the Ordo as such has remained organically connected with the theology of time which contained its original organizing principle. This theology of time was obscured and eclipsed by "secondary" layers in the Ordo, but it remained always as the foundation of its inner logic and the principle of its inner unity.

"This connection is evident, first, in the correlation (preserved throughout all the changes) of the Eucharist with the liturgy of time or in other words, in the special place occupied by the Eucharist in the general structure of the Ordo. The Eucharist has its own time, its kairos, and this time is distinct from the units used to measure the liturgy of time. We have spoken of the ascetical and individualistic modification, which occurred in the view of the Eucharist under the influence of monasticism, and or how, in connection with this, the Eucharist was included within the liturgy of time as one of its component offices. But this change was never fully accepted in the Ordo, and in it there is a characteristic ambiguity toward the Eucharist. The lectionary, the setting apart of a relatively small number of non-liturgical days, and a whole series of other rubrics all point to the success of one tendency in this process. Its success can be traced also in the popular acceptance of the so-called "votive masses," of the idea that the Eucharist can be subordinated to individual needs.

"On the other hand if all the rest of the prescriptions of the Ordo are taken together, if one carefully considers their inner logic and also the rite of the Liturgy itself, it can hardly be doubted that the Eucharist has preserved its basic character as the Feast of the Church, as the expression and actualization of her eschatological fullness, as an action which is combined with the liturgy of time and related to it, but precisely by virtue of its ontological difference from it. It is true that the prescriptions concerning the kairos of the Eucharist have become a dead letter in modern times. But what is important is that these prescriptions have in fact been preserved, and this means that for those who have been brought up on the "Byzantine synthesis" they constitute an inviolable part of the liturgical tradition of the Church and are part of her rule of prayer. What else do these prescriptions prove, this whole complicated system of relationships between the Eucharist and time — with its hours, days and cycles — if not that the time of the Eucharist is something special, and that what it expresses in time fulfills time and gives it another standard of measurement.

"The fundamental meaning of these different prescriptions must be seen in the principle of the incompatibility of the Eucharist with fasting. The Eucharist is not celebrated during Lent. On the strict fast days of the eves of Christmas and Epiphany it is celebrated in the evening, just as the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated in the evening. The whole complicated system for the transfer of the Christmas and Epiphany eves of fasting to Friday if they happen to fall on Saturday or Sunday expresses the same idea: Saturdays and Sundays, being Eucharistic days, are incompatible with fasting. Obviously what is preserved here in full force is the liturgical concept of fasting as a condition of expectation in the Church herself, related to the Eucharist as the Sacrament of the Parousia of the Lord. Even where the Eucharist is thought of as a daily service, it is not simply inserted into the system of daily offices, but preserves its special kairos, depending on the length of the fast, the degree of importance of the commemoration, etc.

"The meaning of all these prescriptions is clear: the Eucharist must be preceded by a fast or vigil (which is in fact the liturgical expression of fasting, as a station, or statio, vigilia), since in this fast or vigil, in this time of expectancy and preparation, time itself is transformed into what it has become in the Church: a time of waiting and preparation for the unending Day of the Kingdom. The entire life of the Christian and the entire earthly life of the Church become a fast in the deepest meaning of this word: the eschaton, from the end and fulfillment of time, since everything is connected with this End, everything is judged and illuminated in relation to it. But this "End" can become a force which transforms life and transmutes "fasting" into "joy and triumph" only because it is not something in the future only, the terrifying dissolution of all things, but rather something which has already come, already begun, and is being eternally "actualized" and "fulfilled" in the Sacrament of the Church, in the Eucharist.

"We have been fulfilled by thine everlasting life, we have joyfully tasted thine inexhaustible food, which thou hast deigned to communicate to us all in the age to come..." That same Life will appear at the End which is already in existence, that New Aeon will begin in which we are already participating, that same Lord will appear who is now coming and is with us. This rhythm of fast and Eucharist which is perhaps the forgotten and unfulfilled but still obvious and basic principle of the Ordo shows that at the foundation of the Church's liturgical life there is still that same unchanging and inexhaustible experience of eschatology, the experience of the Church as new life in new time existing within this old world and its time for the express purpose of its salvation and renewal.

"Thus too in the daily cycle, which is the basis of the liturgy of time, the Ordo or structure of its services can be understood only in relation to the theology of time, which they contain and express. Outside it they become an inexplicable, arbitrary sequence of diverse elements connected in no way other than by a "formal" law. The Christian theology of time is clearly expressed in Vespers and Matins, in which four themes follow one another in a definite sequence. In Vespers there is the theme of Creation as a beginning (the preparatory psalm "Bless the Lord, 0 my soul"), the theme of sin and fall ("Lord I have cried ..."), the theme of salvation and the coming into the world of the Son of God ("O Gladsome Light"), and the theme of the End ("Lord, now lettest thou thy servant...").

"The same themes form the order for Matins, only in the opposite order. The daily cycle is a kind of constant contemplation of the world and the time within which the Church dwells, and of those ways of evaluating the world and its time, which were manifested by the Parousiaof the Lord. The note of cosmic thanksgiving, the perception of God's glory in creation, its affirmation as something "very good," these insights which come at the beginning of Vespers, followed by the commemoration of the fall of this world, of the indelible mark of separation from God which accompanied it, the relationship of all things to the Light of salvation which has come into and illuminated this world and, finally, the concluding "thy Kingdom come" of the Lord's prayer — here is the liturgical order of the daily cycle. Each day Christians pray that in and through the Church the time of this world may become the new time for the children of light, may be filled with new life for those whom she has brought to life. And so she "refers" this day to that which constitutes her own life, to the reality of the Presence which she alone in this world knows, and which she alone is able to reveal.

"The Church year, which has been torn away from the theology of time more than all the other liturgical cycles, still preserves the sign of its original and inerradicable connection with this theology in Easter and its year long cycle. No matter how many other Feast Days there are and no matter what they celebrate, they all reflect something of the light of Easter, and it is not by chance or for the sake of an artificial emphasis that the late Byzantine liturgiologists constructed the "pre-festivals" of Christmas and Epiphany — two of the most ancient and important feast days of the Christian year — on the pattern of Holy Week. Whatever is being celebrated, the celebration is fulfilled in the Eucharist, in the commemoration of that Paschal night when before His Sacrifice our Lord bequeathed the Supper of the Kingdom to the Church, in the commemoration of that morning when the new life shone in the world, when the Son of Man had completed His passage to the Father, and when in Him the New Passover had become the Life of men. Each Feast Day is related to that New Time which is celebrated by Easter.

Like the Lord's Day in the week, so also Easter each year manifests and "actualizes" that eternal beginning which in the old world appears as an end, but which in the Church signifies an End that has been turned into a Beginning, thereby filling the End with joyous meaning. Easter is an eschatological feast in the most exact and deepest meaning of this word, because in it we "recall" the resurrection of Christ as our own resurrection, eternal life as our own life, the fullness of the Kingdom as already possessed. As the beginning and end of the Church year Easter links this eschatological fullness with real time in its yearly form. Life in the world becomes a "correlative" of the eternal Easter of the New Aeon. Thus Easter reveals the essential nature of every Feast Day, and is in this sense the "Feast of Feasts."

"Having preserved the eschatological theology of time as its foundation and principle of formulation, the Byzantine synthesis has also preserved the ecclesiological significance of the Church's "rule of prayer." No symbolical explanation, no mysteriological piety and no ascetical individualism could obscure completely the unchanging essential nature of worship as the Church's act of self-revelation, self-fulfillment, self-realization. It must be frankly admitted, in our modern "liturgical piety" this essential nature has been very poorly understood. Nowhere is the need to "unfetter" the meaning of the Ordo so apparent, nowhere is the need to rediscover the meaning of the Ordo's now dead language so urgent.

"The Ordo was fettered precisely because the ecclesiological key to its understanding and acceptance had been lost and forgotten. It is only necessary to read over the "rubrics" and prescriptions with new eyes, and to meditate on the structure of the Ordo, in order to understand that its major significance lies in its presentation of worship as the service of the new people of God. From the unchanging liturgical "we" of all liturgical texts to the most complicated rite for an All-night Vigil, with its vesting and unvesting of the clergy, its shifting of the center of the service from the altar to the middle of the church, its censings, processions, bows, etc., everything that is important and basic in the Ordo is a Byzantine "transposition" of the original meaning of worship as the corporate act and "fulfillment" of the Church. From the standpoint of "eternal" value and inner consistency certain details of this transposition can be called into question; one can distinguish between what is local (and often accepted as "universal") and what is universal (and often accepted as "local"); but it is impossible to deny that in the overall design of the Ordo, in its essential and eternal logic, it was, is and always will be the Ordo of the Church's worship, a living and vital revelation of her doctrine about herself, of her own self-understanding and self-definition.

"Finally, the ultimate and permanent value of the Ordo, a value which determines the whole complex path of its Byzantine development, is the Church's "rule of faith" which is revealed and imprinted within it. The theology of time and ecclesiology which in some way define the very essence of the Church's cult have been preserved in the Ordo in spite of the various pressures exerted upon it, and the revelation in and through the Ordo of the Church's dogmatic teaching must be regarded as a genuine product of Byzantine Christianity.

"The Byzantine period of history still awaits a proper evaluation in the mind of the Church. It can hardly be doubted that the development of dogmatic thought went hand in hand with a weakening of ecclesiological consciousness. The "Christian world" on the one hand and the "desert" on the other obscured the reality of the Church, which had come to be understood more as the source of a beneficient sanction, as the dispenser of grace, than as the people of God and the new Israel, a chosen people, a royal priesthood. This eclipse of ecclesiological consciousness was reflected in liturgical piety, in the forms and the view of the cult. But what constitutes the permanent value of this period is that in Byzantine worship the Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon were not simply "transposed" from the language of philosophy into the language of sacred liturgical poetry; they were revealed, fathomed, understood, manifested in all their significance."

Credits
Excerpted with permission of the publisher from Introduction to Liturgical Theology, by Fr. Alexander Schmemann. Copyright St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.