The quantitative volume of this cycle, its liturgical and theological significance and place in the church calendar were not immediately determined.
If we talk about the inner content and structure of the Lenten Triodion, then three groups of memories are distinguished in it. First, it is Holy Week, which follows the Lent of the Lent, with three preparatory weeks preceding it. Secondly, the Lenten Triode included the memory of the Sundays of the Forty-days, which are now removed from liturgical practice: they are spoken of only in the content of self-consent and in separate Sunday canons. In accordance with them, for example, in the second week the parable of the prodigal son is remembered, in the third - the publican and the Pharisee, etc. And, finally, a special layer is made up of a group of Minean memories - transferred to a moving liturgical circle from a motionless one.
The most ancient of these structural and content elements is not the three preparatory weeks, as one might suppose, but the Easter fast, that is, the fast on Holy Week. Undoubtedly, it was established by the apostles according to the commandment of Christ - to fast on the day “when the Bridegroom is taken from them” (Matthew 9:15). Its duration in different places was not the same. Uniformity was probably hindered primarily by the fact that not all Christians celebrated Easter at the same time. In exactly the same way, the full cycle of the memories of Holy Week was not immediately established in all Churches. The earliest of all, apparently, this was done in Jerusalem.
It is fundamentally important that it was the expansion of the Easter fast that gave rise to the Lent of the Forty-day. True, the existence of the 69th Apostolic Canon prompts to attribute the origin of this fast to the apostolic era: “If anyone is a bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or subdeacon, or reader, or singer, does not fast on Holy Forty days before Easter, or on Wednesday, or on the heel, besides the obstacle from bodily weakness, let him be cast out, if the layman, let him be excommunicated. But this evidence is not reliable, because "the apostolic canons, together with the collection of apostolic decrees, the conclusion of which they are, were formed only in the second half of the 4th century", while the formation of the Forty-day should be counted from the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 4th centuries. The place of its establishment should be sought, most likely, in Syria, while in Rome and Alexandria it was an alien phenomenon.
According to most researchers, the earliest "indisputable testimony of the 40-day fast preceding Easter (including Holy Week), according to most researchers, should be considered the 2nd feast (Easter) Epistle (330) of St. Athanasius the Great", where the Forty-day is considered as an ascetic preparation for the holiday of Easter ...
Clarifications are required for a very controversial issue for historical liturgy about the methods of calculating the Forty-day. In the IV century there were at least two of them in the East. One of them, Palestinian, is indicated in Eusebius's work "On Easter", in the Easter epistles of St. Athanasius, and also in the readings of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. It is considered to be more ancient. Another way, Antioch, came about later. Mentions about him can be found in the apostolic decrees, in the works of St. John Chrysostom. In essence, both of these calculations agree with each other, the difference was originally only in the quantitative interpretation of the Easter fast.
According to Eusebius, the Forty Day - with the inclusion of Holy Week - lasts six weeks. But from this it follows that it consists of 42 days, not 40. The last figure is obtained if Friday and Saturday of Holy Week are excluded from the Easter fast. St. Athanasius does not make such truncations. And in this regard, it is not entirely clear according to which system - Palestinian or local - he calculates the Forty Day, since in Alexandria in the first half of the 3rd century, under St. Dionysius, the Passover fast really lasted a whole week.
In the framework of the Antiochian reckoning, the pre-Easter fast included a full week, and for the Forty-day a special six weeks were assigned.
At the same time, the following fact cannot be ignored: initially, both methods of calculating invariably led to the fact that there were less than 40 fast days in the Forty, since Sundays were exempted from fasting. By order of St. Athanasius the Great, in Alexandria, in addition, Saturdays were subtracted from this number of fasting days, with the exception of the Saturday of Holy Week. Thus, it turns out that there were only 31 fasting days, together with Easter fasting. All this suggests that the number 40 is taken from examples of historically documented 40-day fasting. As you know, the Holy Scriptures repeatedly point to them: these are the prophets Moses and Elijah and, of course, Jesus Christ Himself.
The desire to bring the Forty Day in strict accordance with its name, that is, so that it actually had exactly 40 fast days, over time caused the emergence of new ways of calculating it. To facilitate further reasoning, it is worth repeating once again: the Palestinian method did not give the desired figure, because even if you do not separate the Easter fast from the Fourtieth day and recognize the Sabbaths as fast, all the same, the total number of fasting days will be only 36.
The Antiochian calculus seems to be more satisfactory. But, again, it is necessary to fulfill the condition of the fusion of the Easter Fast and the Forty Day. True, in this case, the number of fasting days - with the exclusion of Sundays - will be 42. If we consider the Lent of the Lent separately, as was the case in the 4th century, the number of days will be reduced to 36.
It should also be taken into account that in the second half of the 4th century in the East, the custom was established, in addition to Sunday, to honor Saturday. It becomes a day of worship, and fasting is prohibited on Saturday. Lenten Saturdays, in addition to the Sabbath of Holy Week, are also exempt from fasting, as a result of which the number of fasting days in the Lent is reduced even more.
The new ways of calculating that have arisen are aimed at correcting these shortcomings. Rome has preserved the ancient Palestinian Fortune longest. The amendment was made only in the 7th century: then the beginning of fasting was postponed to Wednesday of the seventh week before Easter, that is, four more days were added to the previously existing 36 fasting days, so it turned out exactly 40 days.
The earliest attempts to correct the calculus of the Forty-Years appeared where it actually originated - in Syria. Here eight weeks are observed before Easter. At the same time, they did not fast in Syria on Sundays and Saturdays, with the exception of Holy Saturday, which implies an Easter vigil. In other words, if we subtract eight Sundays and seven Saturdays from eight weeks, there are 41 fast days, which are here called holidays.
This method of calculation was widespread in the East quite widely. At the beginning of the 4th century, it existed as a firm custom in the Antiochian Church. However, among the Orthodox inhabitants of the East, despite its antiquity, it did not establish itself. So, in Jerusalem, where he existed at the end of the 4th century, in the 6th century, Patriarch Peter, in his Passover Epistle, calculates the Forty Day according to the Antioch method.
At the same time, the practice of eight-week fasting existed in the East for a long time - almost until the 9th century. In the 7th century, it became extremely widespread at all due to the following circumstance. According to the Alexandrian Chronicle of Patriarch Eutychios, at the end of the Persian War by Heraclius (629), the inhabitants of Jerusalem asked him to execute the Jews of Jerusalem for the fact that during the war the latter did a lot of violence against Christians and were in relations with the Persians. The ruler hesitated for a long time in fulfilling their petition and agreed to this only when the subjects promised that they would take all the blame on themselves and that they would fast one more week before the Forty every year, because until now they had observed it by half, abstaining from meat and eating cheese and eggs. At the death of Heraclius, the promise was forgotten, and the people of Syria returned to the old custom. Only Copts continued to observe a strict fast during the cheese week, calling it the fast of Heraclius. It is possible, however, that the eight-week fast was formed much earlier - following the example of the Syrian Monophysites.
In addition to the application of the eighth week, another attempt was made in the East to correct the calculation of fasting - by referring to it the first three days of Holy Week. Such a system still exists among the Nestorians: they call the above days the last days of fasting.
Most likely, the Greeks quite quickly forgot what kind of order was established under Heraclius. But the tradition that some addition to the Forty-day was made during his reign was still preserved. This can explain the presence already in the 8th century in the Greek Church of the tradition of a semi-post preparatory, that is, cheese, week. In other words, a compromise was found between the eight week fast that had been practiced earlier and the seven week fast. The introduction of the cheese week can also be viewed as a form of protest by the Orthodox against the Monophysites.
Be that as it may, but the specified insert is of great importance for the formation of the Lenten Triode in general and its local editions in particular. So, in Palestine, the number of preparatory days for the Forty-day was limited to cheese week. In Constantinople, on the other hand, in the course of time their number increased by another two weeks. In the Constantinople evangelistaries of the 9th-10th centuries, the week of the prodigal son, preceding the meat-eating week, is usually already celebrated. Therefore, here she is considered the week preparatory to fasting. The reason for the change in its liturgical status was probably the content of this week's Gospels: their tendency to mark the last weeks before Lent with special readings is clearly visible. This part of the year is the Gospel of Luke. In the previous weeks, conception goes sequentially: 66 (26th week), 71, 76, 85, 91, 93, 94; in the last two resurrections - the publican and the Pharisee, as well as the prodigal son - the order returns: 89 and 79. For meat and cheese weeks, conception is no longer taken from the Evangelist Luke, but from Matthew (106 and 17).
As for the initial preparatory week of the publican and the Pharisee, it was numbered among the preparatory days much later than the week of the prodigal son. At the same time, in the XII century, the first week already firmly takes its present place. The main reason for joining it was, according to I.A. Karabinova, not so much the content of her evangelical conception, as an ideological and polemical foundation. It is about the denunciation of the Armenians who spend this week in strict fasting, which they call "arachavork", which means "first." A similar fast is observed by all Eastern heterodox Christians under the name of the fast of the Ninevites. As you can see, the method of criticism of the Armenian custom was chosen by the Greeks the same as in relation to the eight-week Monophysite Forty-days: it consisted in the principled release of the publican and Pharisee from fasting on Wednesday and Friday.
Mineral Memories in the Lenten Triodion
Let us now consider those memories of the Lent, which have been transferred into it from the motionless - monthly - circle.
The transfer of memories, probably, began to be practiced already from the first days of the Fourties and therefore has an obvious explanation: if a known memory fell on any weekday fast, then, according to ancient custom, it was impossible to celebrate it. St. Athanasius (Sakharov) wrote: "In general, the memoirs of the weeks of Great Lent are Menaean memories and as such cannot have an organic connection with the rest of the Great Lent Divine services." This prohibition, in turn, affected the distribution of memorials in the triodymy on Saturdays and weeks. An exception, I must say, very later, made according to the determination of the Council of Trull, was made only for the Annunciation: a full liturgy was laid on it - regardless of the day of the week.
The custom of transferring the memory of the saints to the Fourtieth day on Saturdays and weeks existed in all the Eastern Churches. Of the now recorded, the oldest is probably the memory of the Amasian martyr Theodore Tyrone who suffered under Maximian and Maximinus. In ancient times, he enjoyed great reverence in the East. The reason for the establishment of the holiday is the well-known miracle of 362, when Saint Theodore, appearing in a dream to the Bishop of Constantinople, warned him against eating foodstuffs by Christians that were secretly defiled with sacrificial blood by Julian's order.
The worship of the Holy Cross of the third week of fasting is of a similar origin.
In the fifth week, in the Lenten Triodion, two memories meet that have not been transferred. The first of them, being little supported by prayers, is almost invisible. On Wednesday, at the sixth hour, the troparion of the prophecy is supposed to be: "By the diseases of the saints, by the image of you, you will suffer." This is the memory or 42 martyrs of the Amorites (March 6. - Hereinafter, the days of remembrance are indicated according to the Julian calendar. - Ed.), or 40 Martyrs of Sebastia (March 9). The second of these memories is marked by the well-known canon of St. Andrew of Crete, but it is not easy to say what kind of memory it is. We must immediately exclude the celebration of the saint himself, as it happens on July 4th. One should assume here the memory of St. Mary of Egypt, laid on April 1, but this is hardly probable. For the most accurate definition, one must refer to the Sinai Triodion of the 11th century. In it for this day is written a self-voiced sedal, which can be considered a troparion (voice 6): “God's rebuke is moving on us, where will we run, whom will we beg? We are overwhelmed by our calamities. Look at us, Better, before Whom the mountains were horrified and shuddered, the sea saw and ran, and the whole creature shook. The angelic face begs You to save the world that You have created, Holy, Holy, Trisagion Lord, save us. " It is clear that the story is about some kind of earthquake. In the months after March 9, there are two coward's memories: March 17 and April 5. I.A. Karabinov is inclined to believe that the cited troparion refers to the first memory. This circumstance is also important: in this case it is the earthquake that is remembered, and not some other event. The troparion of the prophecy on the fourth of the fifth week helps to argue this thesis, which describes a serious calamity: "More blessed, longsuffering, O Lord Almighty, send down Thy mercy on Thy people." . The parimia from Genesis of the indicated day is even more convincing. Its content is the conversation of Abraham with God about the impending destruction of Sodom and Gommora, where the Lord promises him not to destroy these cities if there are at least ten righteous people in them. This allusion is too transparent and refers to Constantinople. On Monday of the sixth week in the troparion of prophecy it is also clearly said: “This is God a terrible day, we do not hope to reach the evening, and you have mercifully vouchsafed us to see us, Trisagion, glory to Thee.
Much controversy is caused by the origin and subject of the Sabbath holiday of the Akathist of the fifth week, which, like the memory of St. Mary of Egypt, is finally established only after the XI century.
Even more new from the point of view of the final liturgical fixation is the celebration of St. John of the Ladder (in the fourth week): it appears from the XIV century. Both festivities are undoubtedly transferred from the month of the word, where the first is supposed to be on April 1, and the second on March 30. It is noteworthy that "the services of Saints John Climacus and Mary of Egypt ... in the Slavic pre-Nikon Triodes ... did not even fit - it was recommended to turn to the Menaea for them."
The last, most recent, memory - of St. Gregory Palamas in the second week of fasting, - according to the testimony of the Greek Triodes, was blessed by Patriarch Philotheus at the Council of 1376.
A few words must be said about two special triode memories - meat and cheese Saturdays. In the first, "the memory of all those who have passed away from eternity" is created, and in the second, "the memory of all the monks and God-bearing fathers, who shone forth in labors". The memory of cheese Saturday, apparently, appeared somewhat earlier than meat-eating. The transformation of the latter was greatly facilitated by the reading of the Gospel of the meat-emptying week about the Last Judgment, indicated on this Sunday by the charter of the Great Church of Constantinople. Relatively later, the origin of both of these memories is proved by the liturgical monuments of other Churches. Thus, there are no such services at all in the Armenian Church.
In the modern Lenten Triodion, two main compositional and meaningful layers are clearly distinguished: the Easter fast (Holy Week), which follows the Lent of the Forty-day with three preparatory weeks preceding it, and also a rather branched group of Menaion memories transferred to a moving circle from a motionless one. The historically considered liturgical book also included the memory of the Sundays of the Lent, the remnants of which are considered self-conscientious and some Sunday canons.
The most ancient of the compositional and semantic components is, of course, the Easter fast, the transformation of which towards expansion marked the beginning of the Fast of the Forty-day. For several centuries, the latter was associated with a different system of calculation, which means that it included an unequal number of days.
There is no doubt that the three preparatory weeks were included in the Lenten Triode late. At the same time, the week about the publican and the Pharisee found its place in the most recent liturgical book under consideration.
On the contrary, the transfer of memories from a stationary circle to a mobile one must be attributed almost to the moment of the establishment of the Forty Day. It was associated with the impossibility of everyday celebrations during Lent. It was this restriction that led to the distribution of the minea memorials on Saturdays and the weeks of the Forty-day.
The formation of the Lent Parimias
The main genre and content components of the Lenten Triodion, with the help of which the external and internal composition of the Easter Fast, the Forty-Years, and the preparatory weeks are realized, are parimias and chants. True, the first ones are included in the liturgical book under consideration only from the XII century, until that time they are usually placed in special vaults, that is, parimiani - collections of parimias for the whole year.
In addition to the variable parts of worship, in the Triodi there is also a third element of a completely different kind, associated with purely disciplinary and functional tasks. We are talking about articles from the church charter, which have been introduced into constant use since the XI-XII centuries.
A comparative analysis of handwritten parimia cannot give any answer to the question of where and when the system of triode parimia was developed, since even the most ancient of them usually contain the current selection of the readings in question.
It is quite obvious that the oldest parts of the named system are considered the parimias of Holy Week, and in particular - Great Heels and Saturdays. The liturgical parimias of the latter, in fact, relate to the Easter service, or, more precisely, are the transition from Easter to Sunday of the cross. They belong to the ancient Christian vigil that took place on the night from Saturday to Sunday in remembrance of the Resurrection of Christ. The parimias under consideration are clearly divided into three groups: some of them are ordinary, others speak of the Easter holiday, and still others refer to the baptism of the catechumens that took place during the Easter vigil. Let us compare in this connection the words of Archpriest Alexander Schmemann: “The hymns of the Triodi were composed for the most part after the actual disappearance of the“ catechumens ”(those who were baptized in adulthood and who required preparation for baptism). Therefore, they mainly speak and emphasize not baptism, but repentance. "
Ordinary readings are undoubtedly the first (Gen. 1: 1-13) and partly the second (Is. 60: 1-16) parimia. In ancient times, liturgical readings were necessarily taken from both Testaments - Old and New. According to the custom that converted to Christianity from Jewry, the former relied on the law and the prophets. In modern divine services, a rudiment of this order is all the triode parimias of the eternal. The first parimia of Great Saturday from Genesis is also ranked among the ordinary readings from the law. The second parimia from Isa. 60: 1-16 is somewhat related to the baptism of the catechumens.
Turning to the parimia of the hours of Good Friday, one must first of all point out their undoubted Jerusalem origin, as, indeed, of the entire service. In Constantinople, the usual Lenten sequence of the third and sixth hours with the parimia of Zach was supposed to be instead. 11: 10-13. It seems that the selection of parimias in these watches is rooted in antiquity.
The same statement will be true for the choice of the parimias of the first hour of Great Four (Jer. 11: 18-12, 15) and Matins of Great Saturday (Jer. 37: 1-14). The meaning of these prophecies is extremely transparent: the first is about the sufferings of Christ and the anger of the Jews against Him, and the second is about His resurrection.
The rest of the parimias of Holy Week are in close connection with the parimias of the Forty Day. From the outside, this attitude is manifested in the order of the prokeims with them. The latter are extracted from the psalms in the same continuous sequence in which they are located in the Psalter: at the parimia of the sixth hour of Monday of the first week there is a prokeimenon from the first psalm, and at the last parimia of the Great Wednesday there is a prokeimenon from psalm 137. Of course, this logic was adopted after the entire Parimian system of the Forty-day and the first half of Holy Week had already been determined.
The reasons why the books of Genesis, Exodus, Proverbs and Job were appointed for reading by fasting do not cause serious disagreement among liturgists. The Exodus is taken for Passion Week in view of the fact that the person of Moses, the event of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and the establishment of the Old Testament feast of Passover are prototypes of Christ, His salvation and New Testament Passover.
The choice of the book of Genesis can be justified in many ways. First of all, it is the most suitable of the law-positive books for continuous reading during such an extensive liturgical cycle like the Lent. The content of Genesis is concentrated mainly around historical events of universal significance, while in other sources legislative elements clearly predominate, which were intended exclusively for the Old Testament Jews. In addition, the plots of the fall, the flood and others are the most appropriate to the penitential nature of the Forty-day. At the same time, the personalities of the patriarchs and the events of their lives provide a lot of edifying material in an understandable, convex, narrative form. In addition, the subject-plot component refers not only to the past tense, but also contains prototypes of New Testament persons and events. In other words, historical didacticity merges with symbolic one. This symbiosis becomes even more weighty and indicative if we consider that edification is done in the days preparing for Easter - a holiday in memory of the main events of human salvation.
Kontakion of Saint Roman the Sweet Songwriter
Another extremely extensive and diverse stratum of the Lenten Triodion is represented by chants, the number of which exceeds 500. They differ greatly from each other in genesis, form, volume, name, language. I.A. Karabinov, in the course of studying a huge number of handwritten and printed Triodes, established that the first dated hymn in the Triodion belongs to the V, and the last - to the XIV centuries. This means that the formation of its genre originality falls on the Byzantine stage of Greek church poetry (from the first - ancient Christian - period, not a single work was included in its composition). Despite this diversity, all triode chants have one common origin: they originate from the refrains with which the early Christians accompanied the performance of biblical psalms and songs.
The very nature of the sources of Byzantine hymnography in many ways contributed to the fact that her works developed the form of tonic verse, based primarily on semantic parallelism and logical stress.
All this was consistent with the ancient Christian way of singing psalms and songs. It is customary to call it antiphonic, since it consists in alternating postish singing of chants by two choirs. The choruses used are called antiphons. Their other no less ancient name is translated as "rhyme". The third term, ipakoi, was also characterized by a certain instability. Approximately from the 5th century, the troparia appear, by which are already understood short chants in the proper sense, and not just refrains. But, probably, this name still passed to them from the latter, for even in later monuments one can find similar prayers, consisting of one verse of a psalm. Thus, the name "troparion" began to be used mainly for chants combined with psalm 117 ("God is the Lord") and with biblical songs.
The earliest chants of the Lenten Triodion are some of the troparia of prophecy, which, although they were not compiled specifically for the Lenten service, began to be used in it from the 8th century.
The naming of "ipakoi" was retained by separate chants laid down at Matins after psalms 134-135 (the so-called polyeleos), 118 (blameless) and after the third biblical song.
But for a long time the listed hymnographic terms were used in a mixed way. Moreover, in today's liturgical books one can find many examples when a certain chant is called troparion in one case, and sedal in the other. Thus, the troparion of St. Thomas of the week "Sealed to the sepulcher" serves as the second sedation of the Sunday service of the seventh voice in Octoicha; the troparion to the apostles Peter and Paul (June 29) of the "Apostles of the First See" is sedated on Wednesday (tone 4).
In other words, all kinds of works of Byzantine church poetry are ultimately genetically reduced to the ancient choruses that Christians used to accompany the singing of biblical psalms and songs. The only exception to this is the ancient kontakion. Chants of this kind are a long series of acrostic stanzas. That is, the poetic form of the kontakion can be qualified as a stanza poem (from 18 to 40 stanzas) of an asymmetrical size, fastened by interstrophic isosyllabia (equi-syllable, dividing the verse into rhythmic units equal in number of syllables) and homotony as the same number of intonation segments in each verse ...
This external unity also corresponds to the internal coherence of the content. In contrast to the canons, where each troparion stands apart, in the kontakions the plot develops sequentially, starting from the first acrostical stanza and ending with the last, so that dividing them into segments is required not so much by semantic logic as by practical necessity - convenience for the singers. The disunity of the troparia in the canons is explained by the fact that, like all other Byzantine chants in general, they are only refrains to biblical chants. Kontakion was originally sung completely independently after the sixth canon of the canon, their stanzas followed one after the other without inserting any intermediate verses. In its form, the kontakion is a series of sedals, somewhat more extensive in comparison with the introductory one, with a consistently developing content. Consequently, to explain the emergence of this form of Byzantine liturgical poetry, one must find a reason that, instead of one sedal, required a number of stanzas.
To solve this problem, it is necessary to focus on the location of the kontakion in the order of Matins. It is sung according to the sixth canon of the canon and precedes the main reading of Matins: it is after him that either the synaxar or the life of the celebrated saint is supposed to. In most cases, the kontakion is also a legend about the celebrated memory - only it is presented in poetic form. All this evokes indispensable associations now with lives, now with legends, now with homilies. Thus, it can be assumed that the original task of the kontakion was either to serve as a poetic parallel to the next reading, or to supplement the latter, or even completely replace it. It is quite clear that such an extensive content could not be placed in the narrow framework of one sedal, but required a certain set of such stanzas.
The first kontakar songwriter, whose personality and works are better elucidated and to whom most of the triode kontakions belong, is Saint Roman the Sweet Singer. The following kontakions and ikos are attributed to him: for weeks - the prodigal son (whose author's attribution, however, is in doubt), meat-swallowing, cross-worshiping and fronds, on Saturdays - Saints Theodore and Lazarus, as well as on Thursday of the fifth week and on Great Monday and Friday.
Researchers (theologians, philologists, etc.) are unanimous in the opinion that this hymnographer was not the creator of the kontakion, but he brought its form and content to perfection and went down in history as a brilliant author of works written within the same genre.
In order to better understand the creative phenomenon Roman Sladkopevets, you need to pay attention to an important personal factor - its origin. The monk was a native of Syria. His creative activity began when he was a deacon of the Church of the Resurrection in the city of Berita (modern Beirut). It is not surprising that in a bilingual culture, Roman turns to non-Greek sources, although he himself wrote exclusively in Greek. The language of his Kontakion, in spite of the author's classical education, is of a mixed character: ancient and Middle Greek forms coexist in it. But in general, he uses the so-called koine - a common dialect available to the general public. In the style of the monk, rhetorical and colloquial elements are equally present, which corresponds to the teaching tasks of his poetry. The flourishing of hymnography associated with the name of Saint Roman was ultimately determined by the need of the Greek church audience for precisely such poetic forms of religious didactics.
The Syrian sources of his work speak eloquently about this. In the homeland of Saint Roman, as early as the 2nd century, there was a custom to pronounce poeticized homilies, written in verse using simple dimensions. The real influence - both direct and indirect - on the formation of his kontakion was exerted by the Syrian liturgical poetry, represented by three genres: mimra (researchers also use other transliterations - "speech"), midrash ("teaching") and sugita ("song"). Mimra is a poetic homily that was spoken at matins after the reading of the Gospel. That is, it is a poetic paraphrase of the reading just listened to. Midrash qualifies as a multi-line poetic work with acrostics and refrain. Finally, sugita is a descriptive work in which the dramatic development of the action was created through the introduction of monologues and dialogues. Moreover, the kontakion cannot be identified with any of the listed works. As N.D. Uspensky, "from the memra Roman the Sladkopevets borrowed the very principle of the connection between the poem and the Gospel, from madrashi - the multi-line form, refrain and acrostic, and from the sogita - the techniques of drama."
Saint Roman made many creative changes in the composition of the kontakion. It must be viewed through the prism of the most significant formal elements for this genre: the stanza distribution of the text and the functional load of the chorus. Roman the Sweet Songwriter, of course, was not their inventor, but he masterfully synthesizes Syrian sources. As a result, the kontakion is poured into a stable stanza structure, united by a refrain. The inevitable contradiction between the narrative of the plot and a certain isolation of each stanza, always crowned with a chorus, is removed at the semantic level that unites the entire work. That is, the main method of interpretation for Saint Roman is parallelism - compositional and semantic, internal and external, since “the kontakions consist of stanzas that are identical in rhythmic pattern, they contain alliterations and a constant refrain”.
The architectonics of the kontakar poem is modeled on a song and, at first glance, is quite traditional. But Saint Roman managed to combine a purely external structure with a functional idea-forming component. The division of the text generates interstrophic and intrastrophic connections of a different nature: these are oppositions between verses and integration relations. The repetition of the refrain plays at the level of stanzas the same role as the element of repetition in rhyme: at the same time, the stanzas are opposed and opposed with their mutual projection, which forms a complex semantic and thematic whole. The logical composition of the work is built in the kontakion not contrary to the stanza, but with its help. The introduction usually fits into one or more of the first ikos, and the conclusion is concentrated in one or more of the last ikos. The main part, of course, is located in a building structure, which is very good for dramatic development. A special technique of Saint Roman, unmistakably determining his authorship, is dialogue (external or internal). Replicas are also structured. Thus, the principle is used, known since ancient times, but immediately preceding Saint Roman in the Syrian midrash and sugita. In the described case, the refrain is addressed to one or another performer. Postrophic dialogue is the simplest, but the most systemic case of the functioning of poetic parts. However, Roman has few kontakions that have a purely dialogical structure; basically, the dialogue is placed in a complex narrative context. Another case, also quite common in the work of the monk, is associated with non-observance of dialogue or minimizing it. Here the main load is taken by the refrain, which in the kontakion is structurally connected with the ikos, and from the point of view of meaning, holds the entire poem together.
Roman stands apart from the proimion (small stanza at the very beginning of the poem). It probably developed from the chorus itself in cases when the latter was too short for the people to catch it, and therefore repeated after each ikos. Proimion may not even be related to the plot of the kondak, but it gives the theme a special light, usually in an extremely elastic and compressed form.
All of the above does not make it possible to agree with the opinion that the kontakion "was not an organized, consistent collection of songs on a specific topic."
So, for the formation of the Lenten Triodion, the most important is the following individual-author's innovation of Roman the Sweet Songwriter: to the exclusively prayer hymnography that was cultivated earlier, he, however, proceeding from the experience of his predecessors, who assigned the kontakion to a completely definite place of worship, adds a preaching component. In this syncretic context, a complex genre is being developed that combines the narrative character of homily with purely poetic means of both expressiveness and organization of the text and has the religious education of Christians as its primary goal.
Many of the works of Saint Roman were not originally intended for them for Great Lent, but began to be used by the Church later these days.
Triodion, Triodion (Old Greek Τριῴδιον, from Old Greek τρία three and ᾠδή, ᾠδά song) is a liturgical book of the Orthodox Church, containing three-song canons (triodes), from where the name comes from.
The Triodi cover the circle of mobile holidays of the year, the dates of which depend on the day of the celebration of Easter: from the preparatory weeks for Great Lent (that is, from the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee) to the first Sunday after the Feast of the Holy Trinity (that is, until the Week of All Saints). The first two preparatory weeks The Triodion is used only in the Sunday service for the Week of the Publican and Pharisee and for the Week of the Prodigal Son, and starting from the service on the Saturday before the Week of the Last Judgment - every day.
Initially, the Triode existed as a single collection, and then was divided into two parts - the Lenten Triode and the Colored Triode.
The Lenten Triode (from the Greek triodion - three-song) is a liturgical book containing prayers for the days preparing for the Holy Forty Day, for Great Lent itself, as well as for Passion Week. It covers the first half of the liturgical circle, from the week of the publican and the Pharisee to Great Saturday.
This section of the site contains information about readings of Great Lent, liturgical and private (home) charter, the texts of canons and prayers read during this period are given. On our website you can download and listen to the chants of the Lenten Triodi.
About Great Lent
The brightest, most beautiful, instructive and touching time in the Orthodox calendar is the period of Great Lent and Easter. Why and how should you fast, how often should you visit the temple and receive communion during Great Lent, what are the features of worship during this period?
The reader can find some answers to these and other questions about Lent below. This material is compiled on the basis of several publications on various aspects of our life during Lent.
I. THE MEANING OF FAST
Lent is the most important and oldest of the many-day fasts, it is the time of preparation for the main Orthodox holiday - the Bright Resurrection of Christ.
Most people no longer doubt the beneficial effects of fasting on the soul and body of a person. Fasting (albeit as a diet) is recommended even by secular doctors, noting the beneficial effect on the body of temporary rejection of animal proteins and fats. However, the point of fasting is not at all to lose weight or physically heal. Saint Theophan the Recluse calls fasting "a course of salvific healing of souls, a bath for washing away everything that is old, ordinary-looking, and dirty."
But will our soul be cleansed if we do not eat, say, a meat cutlet or salad with sour cream on Wednesday or Friday? Or maybe we will immediately get into the Kingdom of Heaven just because we do not eat anything slow? Hardly. It would have been too simple and easy then that for which the Savior accepted a terrible death at Calvary. No, fasting is first of all a spiritual exercise, it is an opportunity to be crucified with Christ and in this sense is our small sacrifice to God.
It is important to hear the call in the post that requires our response and effort. For the sake of our child, people close to us, we could go hungry if there was a choice to whom to give the last piece. And for the sake of this love, they are ready for any sacrifice. Fasting is the same proof of our faith and love for God, commanded by Him. Is this how we, true Christians, love God? Do we remember that He is at the head of our life, or do we forget this when we are confused?
And if we do not forget, then what is this small sacrifice to our Savior - fasting? A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit (Ps. 50, 19). The essence of fasting is not to give up certain types of food or entertainment, and even from daily affairs (as Catholics, Judaists, pagans understand the sacrifice), but in giving up that which completely absorbs us and removes us from God. In this sense, the Monk Isaiah the Hermit says: "Soul fasting consists in the rejection of cares." Fasting is a time of serving God with prayer and repentance.
Fasting refines the soul for repentance. When passions are pacified, the spiritual mind is enlightened. A person begins to see his shortcomings better, he has a thirst to clear his conscience and repent before God. According to St. Basil the Great, fasting is done as if by wings, raising prayer to God. St. John Chrysostom writes that "prayers are performed with attention, especially during fasting, because then the soul is lighter, is not burdened by anything and is not suppressed by the disastrous burden of pleasure." For such a prayer of repentance, fasting is the most blessed time.
“By refraining from passions during fasting, as far as we have strength, we will have a useful bodily fast,” teaches the Monk John Cassian. "The burden of the flesh, combined with the contrition of the spirit, will constitute a pleasant sacrifice to God and a worthy abode of holiness." Indeed, “can you only call fasting the observance of some rules about not eating anything that is fast on fasting days? - asks Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) rhetorically, - will fasting be fast if, apart from a certain change in the composition of food, we will not think about repentance, or abstinence, or purification of the heart through intense prayer? "
Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as an example to us, fasted for forty days in the wilderness, from where he returned in the power of the spirit (Luke 4:14), having overcome all the temptations of the enemy. “Fasting is a weapon prepared by God,” writes the Monk Isaac the Syrian. - If the Legislator Himself fasted, then how can one of those obliged to observe the law not fast? .. Before fasting, the human race did not know victory and the devil never experienced defeat ... Our Lord was the leader and the firstborn of this victory ... And how soon the devil sees this weapon on one of the people, this adversary and tormentor immediately comes to fear, thinking and remembering his defeat in the desert by the Savior, and his strength is crushed. "
Fasting is established for everyone: both monks and laity. It is not a duty or a punishment. It should be understood as a saving agent, a kind of treatment and medicine for every human soul. "Fasting does not alienate women, old people, young men, or even small children," says St. John Chrysostom, "but it opens doors to everyone, accepts everyone in order to save everyone."
“You see what fasting does,” writes St. Athanasius the Great: “heals diseases, drives out demons, removes crafty thoughts and makes the heart pure.”
“Eating extensively, you become a carnal person, without a spirit, or soulless flesh; and by fasting you draw the Holy Spirit to yourself and become spiritual, ”writes the holy righteous John of Kronstadt. Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) notes that "the body tamed by fasting gives the human spirit freedom, strength, sobriety, purity, subtlety."
But with the wrong attitude to fasting, without understanding its true meaning, it can, on the contrary, become harmful. As a result of the unreasonable passage of fasting days (especially long days), irritability, anger, impatience or vanity, conceit, pride often appear. But the point of fasting is precisely to eradicate these sinful qualities.
“One bodily fast cannot be sufficient for the perfection of the heart and purity of the body, if the fast of the soul is not combined with it,” says the Monk John Cassian. - For the soul also has its own harmful food. Weighed down by it, the soul, even without an excess of bodily food, falls into voluptuousness. Backbiting is harmful food for the soul, and, moreover, pleasant. Anger is also its food, although it is not at all light, for it often feeds it with unpleasant and poisonous food. Vanity is its food, which for a while delights the soul, then devastates, deprives of all virtue, leaves it sterile, so that not only destroys merit, but also incurs great punishment. "
The purpose of the post - the eradication of harmful manifestations of the soul and the acquisition of virtues, which is facilitated by prayer and frequent attendance at church services (according to the Monk Isaac the Syrian - "vigilance in the service of God"). Saint Ignatius also notes on this occasion: “As in a field carefully cultivated with agricultural implements, but not sown with useful seeds, tares grow with particular vigor, so in the heart of a fasting person, if he, being satisfied with one bodily deed, does not protect the mind with spiritual deed, then there is a prayer, the tares of conceit and arrogance grow thickly and strongly ”.
“Many Christians ... consider it a sin to eat, even because of bodily weakness, on a fast day, anything that is meager and without a twinge of conscience despise and condemn a neighbor, for example, acquaintances, offend or deceive, weigh, measure, indulge in fleshly impurity,” writes the holy righteous John of Kronstadt. - Oh, hypocrisy, hypocrisy! Oh, misunderstanding of the spirit of Christ, the spirit of Christian faith! Is it not inner purity, meekness and humility that the Lord our God requires of us first of all? " The feat of fasting is imputed to nothing by the Lord if we, as St. Basil the Great puts it, “we do not eat meat, but eat our brother,” that is, we do not observe the Lord's commandments about love, mercy, selfless service to our neighbors, in a word, everything that is asked from us on the day of the Last Judgment (Matt. 25, 31-46).
“Whoever limits fasting to one abstinence from food, he greatly dishonors him,” instructs St. John Chrysostom. - Not only the mouth should fast, - no, let the eye, and hearing, and hands, and our whole body fast ... Fasting is removal from evil, curbing the tongue, setting aside anger, taming lusts, stopping slander, lies and perjury. .. Are you fasting? Feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, visit the sick, do not forget the prisoners in the dungeon, have pity on the exhausted, comfort the mourning and crying; be merciful, meek, kind, quiet, long-suffering, compassionate, unforgiving, reverent and dignified, pious, so that God will accept your fast and give the fruits of repentance in abundance. "
The meaning of fasting - in perfection of love for God and neighbors, because it is on love that all virtue is based. The Monk John Cassian the Roman says that we "do not place hope in one fast, but, while maintaining it, we want to achieve through it the purity of heart and apostolic love." Nothing is fasting, nothing is asceticism in the absence of love, because it is written: God is love (1 John 4, 8).
It is said that when Saint Tikhon was retiring in the Zadonsk monastery, one Friday, during the sixth week of Great Lent, he visited the monastic schema-monk Mitrofan. The schema-monk had a guest at that time, whom the saint also loved for his pious life. It happened that on that day a fisherman he knew brought Father Mitrofan a live chimp for Palm Sunday. Since the guest did not expect to stay at the monastery until Sunday, the schema-monk ordered to immediately prepare a fish soup and a cold one from the black sheep's ear. The saint Father Mitrofan and his guest caught these dishes. The schemnik, frightened by such an unexpected visit and considering himself guilty of breaking the fast, fell at the feet of Saint Tikhon and begged him for forgiveness. But the saint, knowing the strict life of both friends, said to them: “Sit down, I know you. Love is above fasting. " At the same time, he sat down at the table and began to eat fish soup.
About Saint Spyridon, the Wonderworker of Trimyphus, it is said that during Great Lent, which the saint kept very strictly, a certain traveler came to him. Seeing that the stranger was very tired, Saint Spyridon ordered his daughter to bring him food. She replied that there was neither bread nor flour in the house, since they had not stocked up on food on the eve of strict fasting. Then the saint prayed, asked for forgiveness and ordered his daughter to fry the salted pork meat left over from the meat-and-mouth week. After its preparation, Saint Spyridon, having seated a wanderer with him, began to eat meat and treat his guest to it. The stranger began to refuse, referring to the fact that he was a Christian. Then the saint said: "How much less must one refuse, for the Word of God has spoken: for the pure, everything is pure (Tim. 1:15)."
In addition, the Apostle Paul said: if one of the infidels calls you and you want to go, then eat everything that is offered to you without any research, for a calm conscience (1 Cor. 10:27) - for the sake of the person who warmly welcomed you. But these are special cases. The main thing is that there should be no guile; Otherwise, you can spend the whole fast: under the pretext of love for your neighbor, walking around friends or accepting them is what is not fast.
The other extreme is excessive fasting, which Christians unprepared for such a feat dare to take on. Speaking about this, Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, writes: “Non-judgmental people are jealous of fasting and the labors of saints with the wrong understanding and intention and think that they are passing through virtue. The devil, who guards them as his prey, plunges into them the seed of a joyful opinion of himself, from which the inner Pharisee is born and brought up and betrays such perfect pride.
The danger of such fasting, according to the Monk Abba Dorotheos, is as follows: “Whoever fasts out of vanity or believes that he is doing a virtue, he is fasting unwisely and therefore begins to reproach his brother afterwards, considering himself to be someone significant. And whoever fasts intelligently does not think that he is intelligently doing a good deed and does not want to be praised as a fasting person. " The Savior himself commanded to practice virtues in secret and hide fasting from others (Matt. 6, 16-18).
Excessive fasting may also result in irritability, anger instead of a feeling of love, which also indicates the incorrectness of its passage. Each has its own measure of fasting: the monks have one, the laity may have another. In pregnant and lactating women, the elderly and the sick, as well as children, with the blessing of the confessor, fasting can be significantly weakened. “A suicide should include the one who does not change the strict rules of abstinence even when it is necessary to strengthen the weakened strength by eating,” says the Monk John Cassian the Roman.
“The law of fasting is such,” teaches Saint Theophan the Recluse, “to remain in God with mind and heart with a detachment from everything, cutting off every pleasure for oneself, not only in the physical, but also in the spiritual, doing everything for the glory of God and the good of others, willingly and fasting labors and deprivations with love, in food, sleep, rest, in the comforts of mutual communication - all in a modest measure, so that it does not catch the eye and does not deprive one of the strength to fulfill the prayer rules. "
So, fasting bodily, fasting spiritually. Let us combine external fasting with internal fasting, guided by humility. Cleansing the body with abstinence, let us purify the soul with a prayer of repentance to gain virtues and love for our neighbors. This will be a true fast, pleasing to God, and hence saving for us.
II. ABOUT EATING IN THE GREAT LENT
From a culinary point of view, fasts are divided into 4 degrees, established by the Church charter:
∙ "dry eating" - that is, bread, fresh, dried and pickled vegetables and fruits;
∙ “cooking without oil” - boiled vegetables, without vegetable oil;
∙ "permission for wine and oil" - wine is drunk with a measure to strengthen the strength of the fasting;
∙ “fish permit”.
A general rule: during Lent, you should not eat meat, fish, eggs, milk, vegetable oil, wine and eat more than once a day.
On Saturdays and Sundays, you can eat vegetable oil, wine and eat twice a day (except for Saturday during Holy Week).
During Great Lent, fish can only be eaten on the feast of the Annunciation (April 7) and on Palm Sunday (the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem).
On Lazarev Saturday (on the eve of Palm Sunday), it is allowed to eat fish caviar.
The first week (week) of Great Lent and the last - Holy Week - are the most severe times. For example, on the first two days of the first Lenten week, the Church charter prescribes complete abstinence from food. On Holy Week, dry food is prescribed (food is not boiled or fried), and on Friday and Saturday - complete abstinence from food.
It is impossible to establish a single fasting for monks, clergy and laity, with different exceptions for the elderly, sick, children, etc. Therefore, in the Orthodox Church in the rules of fasting, only the most stringent norms are indicated, to the observance of which all believers should, whenever possible, strive. There is no formal separation in the rules for monks, clergy and laity. But fasting must be approached wisely. We cannot take on what we cannot afford. Those inexperienced in fasting should proceed gradually and wisely. Lay people often make their fast easier (this should be done with the blessing of the priest). Sick people and children can fast with light fasting, for example, only in the first week of fasting and on Holy Week.
The prayers say: "fast by a pleasant fast." This means that you need to adhere to a fast that will be spiritually pleasing. You need to measure your strengths and not fast too hard or, on the contrary, not at all. In the first case, the implementation of the rules that we are not able to do can harm both the body and the soul; in the second case, we will not achieve the necessary physical and spiritual tension. Each of us should define our bodily and spiritual capabilities and impose on ourselves the feasible bodily abstinence, focusing on the purification of our souls.
III. ON THE ORGANIZATION OF SPIRITUAL AND Prayer Life, Attendance at Divine Services and Communion on the Great Fast
For each person, the time of Lent is individually divided into many of his special little deeds, little efforts. But nevertheless, we can single out some, common for all, directions of our spiritual, ascetic and moral efforts during Great Lent. This should be efforts to organize our spiritual and prayer life, efforts to cut off certain external entertainment and cares. And, finally, it should be an effort aimed at making our relations with neighbors deeper and more meaningful. Finally, full of love and sacrifice on our part.
The organization of our spiritual and prayer life during Great Lent differs in that it presupposes (both in the church charter and in our cell rule) a great measure of our responsibility. If at other times we sometimes indulge ourselves, condescend to ourselves, say that we are tired, that we work a lot or that we have household chores, shorten the prayer rule, do not reach the all-night vigil on Sunday, we leave the service early, - everyone will have this kind of self-pity, - then Great Lent should begin with the fact that all these allowances arising from self-pity for oneself should be suppressed.
Anyone who already has the skill of reading the entire morning and evening prayers, he should try to do it every day, at least throughout Great Lent. It would be nice for everyone to add the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: "Lord and Master of my Life." It is read many times in the church on weekdays of Great Lent, but it would be natural for her to enter into the home prayer rule. For those who already have a large measure of ecclesiasticality and somehow cares about an even greater degree of communion with the Lenten system of prayer, we can also recommend reading at home at least some parts from the daily followings of the Lenten Triodi. For every day of Great Lent in the Lenten Triodion there are canons, three-song, two-song, four-song, which are consistent with the meaning and content of each week of Lent and, most importantly, dispose us to repentance.
For those who have such an opportunity and prayer zeal, it is good to read at home in their free time - together with morning or evening prayers or separately from them - the canons from the Lenten Triodion or other canons and prayers. For example, if you failed to attend the morning service, it is good to read the stichera sung at Vespers or at the morning of the corresponding day of Great Lent.
It is very important to attend Lent not only on Saturdays and Sundays, but also necessarily on everyday services, because the peculiarities of the liturgical structure of Great Lent are learned only at everyday services. On Saturday the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is served, the same as at other times of the church year. On Sunday, the liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated, but from the point of view of (at least in the kliros) sound it differs almost in only one chant: instead of "It is worthy to eat" it is sung "In Thee rejoices." There are almost no other visible differences for parishioners. These differences are evident primarily for the priest and those in the altar. But in everyday service, the whole system of Lenten service is revealed to us. Multiple repetitions of the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian "Lord, and the Lord of my belly," the touching singing of the troparia of the hour - the first, third, sixth and ninth hours with bows to the ground. Finally, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts itself, along with its touching chants, crushing even the most petrified heart: "May my prayer be corrected, like a censer before Thee," him, we will not understand what spiritual wealth is revealed to us in the Lent services.
Therefore, everyone should try, at least several times during Great Lent, to expand life circumstances - work, study, everyday cares - and get out to everyday Lenten services.
Fasting is a time of prayer and repentance, when each of us must ask the Lord for forgiveness of our sins (by fasting and confession) and worthily partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
During Great Lent, they confess and receive communion at least once, but one should try to talk and receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ three times: on the first week of Lent, on the fourth and on Holy Thursday - on Great Thursday.
IV. HOLIDAYS, WEEKS AND FEATURES OF WORSHIP IN THE GREAT LENT
Great Lent includes Holy Forty (the first forty days) and Holy Week (more precisely 6 days before Easter). Between them is Lazarev Saturday (Palm Sunday) and the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday). Thus, Great Lent lasts seven weeks (or rather 48 days).
The last Sunday before Great Lent is called Forgiven or "Cheese" (on this day the eating of cheese, butter and eggs ends). At the liturgy, the Gospel is read with a part from the Sermon on the Mount, which speaks of the forgiveness of offenses to our neighbors, without which we cannot receive the forgiveness of sins from the Heavenly Father, about fasting, and about the gathering of heavenly treasures. In accordance with this Gospel reading, Christians have a pious custom to ask each other on this day for forgiveness of sins, known and unknown offenses. This is one of the most important preparatory steps on the path to Great Lent.
The first week of fasting, together with the last, is distinguished by its severity, and the length of the services.
The Holy Forty Day, which reminds us of the forty days spent by Jesus Christ in the wilderness, begins on Monday, which is called pure. Apart from Palm Sunday, there are 5 Sundays left in the entire Forty Day, each of which is dedicated to a special memory. Each of the seven weeks is named, in order of occurrence: first, second, etc. week of Great Lent. The divine service is distinguished by the fact that, during the entire continuation of the Holy Forty, there is no Liturgy on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (unless there is a holiday on these days). In the morning, Matins, hours with some inserts and Vespers are performed. In the evening, instead of Vespers, Great Compline is served. On Wednesdays and Fridays, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated, on the first five Sundays of Great Lent - the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, which is also celebrated on Maundy Thursday and on Great Saturday of Holy Week. The usual liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is celebrated on Saturdays during the period of the Holy Forty.
The first four days of Great Lent (Monday-Thursday) in the evening in Orthodox churches the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read - an inspired work that poured out from the depths of the contrite heart of a holy man. Orthodox people always try not to miss these amazingly powerful services on the soul.
On the first Friday of the Great Day, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which was established on this day according to the charter, does not end quite usually. The canon of St. to the great martyr Theodore Tiron, after which a kolivo is brought to the middle of the church - a mixture of boiled wheat and honey, which the priest blesses with the reading of a special prayer, and then the kolivo is distributed to the faithful.
On the first Sunday of Great Lentthe so-called "Triumph of Orthodoxy", established under Queen Theodore in 842 about the victory of the Orthodox at the Seventh Ecumenical Council, takes place. During this holiday, in the middle of the temple, in a semicircle, on lecterns (high tables for icons), temple icons are exhibited. At the end of the liturgy, the clergymen perform a prayer singing in the middle of the church in front of the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, praying to the Lord for the confirmation of Orthodox Christians in the faith and the conversion to the path of truth of all those who have departed from the Church. The deacon then loudly reads the Symbol of Faith and pronounces an anathema, that is, he announces the separation from the Church of all who dare to distort the truths of the Orthodox faith, and “eternal memory” to all defenders of the Orthodox faith who have died, and “for many years” to those who have been living.
On the second Sunday of Great LentThe Russian Orthodox Church remembers one of the great theologians - Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonite, who lived in the XIV century. In accordance with the Orthodox faith, he taught that for the feat of fasting and prayer, the Lord illuminates the believers with His grace-filled light, with which the Lord shone on Tabor. For the reason that St. Gregory revealed the doctrine of the power of fasting and prayer and it is established to commemorate him on the second Sunday of Great Lent.
On the third Sunday of Great Lentat the All-night Vigil, after the Great Doxology, the Holy Cross is brought out and offered for worship to believers. While worshiping the Cross, the Church sings: We worship Your Cross, Master, and we glorify Your holy resurrection. This song is sung at the liturgy instead of the "Trisagion". The Church exposes the Cross to believers in the middle of the Forty Day in order to remind of the suffering and death of the Lord to inspire and strengthen those who are fasting to continue the feat of fasting. The Holy Cross remains for worship for a week until Friday, when, after hours, before the Liturgy, it is brought back into the altar. Therefore, the third Sunday and the fourth week of Great Lent are called Cross-worshipers.
Wednesday of the fourth week of the Cross is called the "preparatory work" of the Holy Forty Day (in common parlance, "the middle of the cross").
On the fourth Sundayi remember St. John of the Ladder, who wrote an essay in which he showed the ladder or the order of good deeds that lead us to the Throne of God.
Thursday fifth weekthe so-called "standing of St. Mary of Egypt" is performed (or Mary's standing is the popular name for Matins performed on Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent, on which the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read, the same one that is read in the first four days of Great Lent, and life of the Monk Mary of Egypt, the service on this day lasts 5-7 hours.). The life of St. Mary of Egypt, formerly a great sinner, should serve as an example of true repentance for all and convince everyone of the ineffable mercy of God.
Annunciationfalls most often during the period of Great Lent. This is one of the most significant and exciting holidays for the Christian soul, dedicated to the message brought to the Virgin Mary by the Archangel Gabriel that she will soon become the Mother of the Savior of Mankind. On this day, fasting is facilitated, fish and vegetable oil are allowed. Annunciation Day sometimes coincides with Easter.
Saturday in the fifth weekthe "Praise to the Most Holy Theotokos" is performed. A solemn akathist is read to the Mother of God. This service was established in Greece in gratitude to the Mother of God for her repeated deliverance of Constantinople from enemies. Our akathist "Praise to the Mother of God" is performed for the confirmation of believers in the hope of the Heavenly Intercessor.
On the fifth Sunday of Great Lentthe succession of the Monk Mary of Egypt takes place. The Church gives, in the person of the Monk Mary of Egypt, a model of true repentance and, for the encouragement of the spiritually laboring, shows on her an example of God's ineffable mercy towards repentant sinners.
Sixth weekdedicated to preparing the fasting for a worthy meeting of the Lord with the branches of virtue and for the remembrance of the passion of the Lord.
Lazarev Saturdayfalls on the 6th week of Great Lent; between the Forty and the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem. The service on Lazarev Saturday is distinguished by its extraordinary penetration, significance, it recalls the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus Christ. At Matins on this day, Sunday "troparia according to the Immaculate" is sung: "Blessed be the Lord, teach me with Thy justification," and at the liturgy, instead of "Holy God" is sung "Elitsy was baptized into Christ, made into Christ. Alleluia. "
On the sixth Sunday of Great Lentthe great twelveth feast is celebrated - the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. This holiday is otherwise called Palm Sunday, the Week of Vai and the Flower Bearing. At the All-night Vigil, after the reading of the Gospel, the "Resurrection of Christ" is not sung ..., but the 50th Psalm is read directly and consecrated by prayer and sprinkling of St. water, blossoming branches of willow (waia) or other plants. Consecrated branches are distributed to those who are praying, with whom, with candles lit, believers stand until the end of the service, marking the victory of life over death (Resurrection). From Vespers on Palm Sunday, the dismissal begins with the words: "The Lord is coming to our free passion for the sake of salvation, Christ is our true God," and so on.
Passion week
This week is dedicated to the memory of suffering, death on the cross and burial of Jesus Christ. Christians should spend this entire week in fasting and prayer. This period is mourning and therefore the attire in the church is black. According to the greatness of the remembered events, all the days of Holy Week are called Great. The last three days are especially touching with memories, prayers and melodies.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week are dedicated to the remembrance of the last conversations of the Lord Jesus Christ with the people and disciples. The peculiarities of the divine services of the first three days of Holy Week are as follows: at Matins, after the Six Psalms and "Alleluia," the troparion is sung: "Behold, the Bridegroom Coming in Midnight", and after the canon, the song is sung: "Thy Chamber I see. Save me. " All these three days, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated, with the reading of the Gospel. The Gospel is also read at matins.
On Great Wednesday of Holy Week, the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot is remembered.
On Maundy Thursday evening, after all-night vigil (which is the matins of Good Friday), the twelve parts of the Gospel about the sufferings of Jesus Christ are read.
On Good Friday, during Vespers (which is served at 2 or 3 pm), the shroud is taken out of the altar and placed in the middle of the temple, i.e. the sacred image of the Savior lying in the tomb; thus it is performed in remembrance of the removal from the cross of the body of Christ and His burial.
On Great Saturday Matins, with the funeral ringing of bells and singing "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us" - the shroud is worn around the temple in remembrance of the descent of Jesus Christ into hell, when He was in His body in the tomb, and His victory over hell and death.
WEEK ABOUT MYTAR AND PHARISEE
SATURDAY ON THE GREAT EVENING
After the preliminary psalm, we read the entire first kathisma. On Lord have cried out: we sing stichera for 10: Sunday Octoichus three, eastern 4 and two self-consonant from the Triodi, repeating the first twice:
Voice 1
Let us not pray in the Pharisee way, brethren: / for he who exalts himself will be humiliated. / Let us humble ourselves before God, / like a publican in the days of fasting, crying: / "Be merciful, God, to us sinners!" (2)
The Pharisee conquered by vanity, / and the publican bowed down by repentance, / came to You, the One Master: / but one, having boasted, lost his blessings, / the other, without many words, was rewarded with gifts. / Strengthen me in those groans, Christ God, / as a lover of mankind.
Glory, voice 8: Almighty, Lord, / I know how much tears can: / for they raised Hezekiah from the gates of death, / they delivered the sinner from long-term sins, / they justified the publican more than the Pharisee; / and I ask: / "Having numbered among them, have mercy on me!"
And now, the Theotokos: the dogmatist of the ordinary voice.
On Litiya the stichera of the temple
Glory, voice 3: Having understood the difference between a publican and a Pharisee, my soul, / hate the first haughty voice, / but be jealous of the second prayer with good contrition and cry: / "God, have pity on me, a sinner, and have mercy on me!" *
And now, the Theotokos is the Sunday of the same voice
Stanza on the verse Oktoikha
Glory, voice 5: With my eyes, weighed down by my iniquities, / I cannot look and see the height of heaven; / but accept me as a repentant publican, Savior, / and have mercy on me.
And now, theotokos, voice 5: Temple and door, palace and throne of the King, - / You, venerable Virgin; / through Thee, my Redeemer, Christ the Lord, / appeared asleep in darkness, like the Sun of righteousness, / to enlighten those whom He created / with His hand in His image. / Therefore, the All-Glorified, / as a motherly boldness to Him who attained, / ceaselessly intercede / for the salvation of our souls.
IN THE MORNING
After the six psalms God the Lord: at the voice of Octoichus and twice we sing the Sunday troparion, and the Theotokos once. Then the usual verse of the Psalter. Sedals Octoicha. After the "Immaculate" troparia: Angelic host: Ipakoi. Degree and Prokemen voice. Any breath: Gospel Sunday ordinary. Resurrection of Christ: Psalm 50.
Glory, voice 8: The gates of repentance / open to me, Giver of life, / for from dawn my spirit strives / to Your holy temple, / carrying the entire defiled bodily temple. / But You, as a compassionate one, cleanse him / by Your merciful mercy.
And now, the Theotokos: On the path of salvation / guide me, Mother of God / for with shameful sins I have stained my soul / and frivolously squandered my whole life. / But by Your prayers / Deliver me from all impurity.
Also, voice 6: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy / and according to the multitude of Thy compassions blot out my iniquity.
Reflecting on the multitude of grave sins I have committed, / I, unfortunate, tremble before the terrible day of judgment. / But, hoping for the mercy of Thy mercy, / as David I cry to Thee: / "Have mercy on me, O God, / by Thy great mercy!"
The first Canon is Sunday for 4, the second is for the Cross Sunday for 2 and the third is for the Theotokos for 2, and the Triodion for 6: the creation of George. Acrostic of his name in the Theotokos.
Canon, Creation of George, Tone 6 Canto 1
Irmos: How Israel went overland:
By parables leading everyone / to the correction of life, / Christ raises the publican for humility, / showing the Pharisee, the exaltation of the humble.
From humility, seeing an exalting honor, / from an exaltation, a heavy fall, / be jealous of the publican's virtues, / and hate the Pharisaic depravity.
From recklessness all good becomes vain, / from humility all evil is destroyed; / we will love him, faithful, / sincerely disdaining the behavior of the vain.
Desiring to see His disciples humble, / The Tsar persuaded and taught them to be jealous / the groaning of the publican and his humility.
Glory: I groan like a publican, / and with unceasing sobs, O Lord, / now I come to Your mercy: / have pity on me, / those who are now living in humility!
And now, the Theotokos: Reason, will, hope, / body, soul and spirit, Lady, / I entrust to You: / from evil enemies, and temptations, and impending punishment / deliver and save me.
Confusion: I will open my mouth:
Song 3
From dirt and passions / the humble ascends, / but from the height of virtues falls in disaster / everyone who is proud of heart: / from his temper, from vice we run!
Vanity makes the riches of righteousness vain, / but humility dissipates many passions; / us, imitating that, / fellows of the publican of reality, Savior.
As a publican and we, striking ourselves in the chest, / in contrition, we will cry out: / "Be merciful, God, to us sinners!" / - to get absolution for it.
Let us approach with zeal, faithful, / achieving meekness, living with humility, / in groaning of the heart and crying with prayer, / may we obtain forgiveness from God.
Glory: Let us reject, faithful, haughty boasting / and immeasurable recklessness / and vile arrogance / and the most disgusting before God / obscene heartlessness of the Pharisee.
And now, the Theotokos: Confident in You, one refuge, / may I not lose my good hope, / but may I receive help from You, Pure One, / getting rid of all harm and calamities.
Sedal, voice 4
Humility elevated / the publican defiled by the deeds of evil, / the sad and "Have mercy!" to the Creator who called; / he overthrew the exaltation, depriving righteousness / of the wretched Pharisee who was magnified. / So let us be jealous of good deeds, / moving away from evil.
Glory: Once upon a time, humility exalted the publican, who cried out with a cry: "Have mercy!" / and justified it. / Let us imitate him / all those who have fallen into the depths of evil, / we will exclaim to the Savior from the depths of our hearts: / "We have sinned, have mercy, one Humanitarian!"
And now, the Theotokos: Soon, O Lady, accept our prayers / and bring them to Thy Son and God, O Lady All-Immaculate. / Resolve the calamities of those who come running to You, / crush the intrigues and put down the insolence of the godless, / who are armed against Your servants.
Song 4
An excellent path of exaltation is humility, / the Word showed, / humbled even to the image of the slave: / imitating this, everyone ascends, humbled.
The righteous Pharisee ascended and fell; / the publican, burdened by many vices / humbled, but was elevated, / beyond hope, receiving justification.
Bringing poverty, / despite the abundance of virtues, / was folly; / and humility, on the contrary, is acquiring justification, / despite the extreme poverty. / Let's get it!
Thou didst predict, O Lord, / that you resist the highly intelligent in every possible way, / and give Thy grace to the humble, Savior; / now to us, who have been humbled, / have received Your grace.
Handbook of an Orthodox person. Part 4. Orthodox fasts and holidays Ponomarev Vyacheslav
Lenten triode
Lenten triode
Weeks and Weeks Preparatory for Great Lent
1. Week (without the preceding week) the publican and the Pharisee.
2. Week about the prodigal son and the week preceding it.
3. Saturday meat-based, parental (that is, Saturday before the Meat Week (Sunday), Maslenitsa) and the week preceding it.
4. Week about the Last Judgment (meat).
5. Week cheese (carnival).
7. Week cheese. Remembrance of Adam's exile. Forgiveness Sunday.
Great Lent (Holy Lent)
1. Week 1 of Great Lent. Triumph of Orthodoxy.
2. Week 2 of Great Lent. Memory saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki.
3. Week 3 of Great Lent. Cross-worship.
4. Week 4 of Great Lent. Reverend John of the Ladder.
5. Week 5 of Great Lent. Reverend Mary of Egypt.
6. Lazarev Saturday. The resurrection of the righteous Lazarus(Saturday of the 6th week of Great Lent).
7. Week 6 of Great Lent. Palm Sunday. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.
8. Passion week:
a) Maundy Thursday. Remembrance of the Last Supper;
b) Good Friday. Remembrance of the Holy Savior Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
c) Great Saturday. Descent of Christ into Hell.
From the book Notes of a Priest: Features of the Life of the Russian Clergy author Sysoeva JuliaLenten meal. Fasting and fasting What is a fasting table and what is fasting and fasting? As already mentioned, fasting is allowed only food of plant origin. Many Orthodox hostesses take this prohibition very seriously and, having come
From the book Great Lent author Schmemann Archpriest Alexander4. THE TRIODE Great Lent has its own special liturgical book: the Lenten Triode. This book includes all the hymns (stichera and canons), biblical readings for every day of fasting, starting with the Resurrection of the Publican and Pharisee and ending with the evening Holy and Great Saturday. Chants of the Triodion
From the book of the Inner Kingdom author Bishop Diocleus CallistosLenten Spring The true nature of repentance will become clearer if we consider three characteristic expressions of repentance in the life of the Church: first, very briefly, the liturgical expression of repentance during Great Lent; then, in more detail, his sacramental expression in
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From the book Handbook of an Orthodox person. Part 4. Orthodox fasts and holidays author Ponomarev VyacheslavThe Lenten Triode Weeks and Weeks Preparatory for Great Lent 1. The week (without the week preceding it) of the publican and the Pharisee. 2. The Week of the Prodigal Son and the Week preceding it. 3. Saturday meat, parental (i.e. Saturday before Week (Sunday)
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From the book Monastic cuisine author Irina StepashevaColored Triodion With the Paschal Midnight Office, performed just before the beginning of Easter Matins, the Colored Triodion (Greek Pentikostarion) begins, embracing the period from Easter to the 1st week after Pentecost. There is much less original material in the Triodi than in the Octoeca and
From the author's bookRussian lean soup For 4 servings of "Russian lean soup" you will need: Potatoes - 550 g, Cabbage - 350 g, Onions - 100 g, Carrots - 100 g, Pearl barley - 90 g, Salt, Fresh dill greens. Rinse the groats and boil until half cooked. Add finely
From the author's bookSort out lean botvinia Sorrel, simmer, adding a little water. Same with spinach separately. Rub sorrel and spinach through a sieve, cool mashed potatoes, dilute with kvass, add sugar, lemon zest, put in the cold. Pour the botvinya into plates, adding slices to taste
