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.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
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."
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."
Saturday, March 03, 2007
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
St Basil the Great
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)