The Daily Cycle of Divine
Services.
The daily cycle
of divine services consists of
those which are celebrated by the holy Orthodox Church during the course
of one
day. There are nine daily services:
Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office,
Matins,
First Hour, Third Hour, Sixth Hour, and Ninth Hour, and the Divine
Liturgy.
Following the
example of Moses, who in describing
the creation of the world by God, began the "day" with evening, the
Orthodox Church day begins with the evening service, Vespers.
- Vespers is the
service celebrated towards the end
of the day, in which we express our gratitude to God for the day which
has
passed.
- Compline is the
service composed of the reading of
a series of prayers, in which we ask the Lord God for the forgiveness of
sins
and that He grant us, upon retiring, repose of body and soul and
preserve us
from the wiles of the Devil during our sleep.
- The Midnight
Office is appointed to be read at midnight in remembrance of the
prayer of the Saviour during the
night in the Garden of Gethsemane. This service summons
the faithful to be ready at all
times for the day of the Dread Judgement, which will come unexpectedly
like
"a bridegroom in the night," as the parable of the ten virgins
reminds us.
- Matins is
celebrated in the morning prior to the
rising of the sun. In this service we give thanks to God for the night
which
has passed, and we ask of Him mercy for the approaching day.
- The First Hour
corresponds to the first three
hours of our day, 6
to 9 A.M. In Old and New Testament
times an "hour" meant a "watch" that lasted for three of our
hours, and each service of the daily cycle corresponds to one of these
three-hour divisions. This First Hour sanctifies the already breaking
day with
prayer.
- The Third Hour
covers the time from 9 A.M. to 12 P.M. and
recalls the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.
- The Sixth Hour
corresponds to the period from 12 to 3 P.M. and
reminds us of the Passion and Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- The Ninth Hour
represents the hours from 3 to 6 P.M. and
reminds us of the death on the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- The Divine
Liturgy is the main divine service.
During the course of its celebration the entire earthly life of the
Saviour is
called to mind, and the Mystery of Holy Communion is celebrated as
instituted
by the Saviour Himself in the Mystical Supper. It must be celebrated in
the
morning before the midday meal.
In ancient times
monastics and hermits conducted
all of these services separately, at the time appointed for each. Later,
to
accommodate the faithful, they were combined into three groups: evening,
morning and daytime.
- The evening
services consist of Ninth Hour,
Vespers and Compline.
- The morning
services consist of Midnight Office,
Matins and First Hour.
- The daytime
services are Third and Sixth Hours,
and the Divine Liturgy.
On the eve of
major feasts and Sundays a service
is conducted in the evening, uniting Vespers, Matins and First Hour.
Such a
service is termed an All-night Vigil because among early Christians and
in some
monasteries today the service is continued through the course of the
entire
night.
A Schematic Outline of the
Daily Cycle of Services.
Evening
- Ninth Hour — three o’clock in the afternoon
- Vespers — six o’clock in
the afternoon
- Compline — nine
o’clock
in the evening
Morning
- Midnight
Office — twelve midnight
- Matins — three o’clock
in the morning
- First Hour — six o’clock in the morning
Daytime
- Third Hour — nine
o’clock in the morning
- Sixth Hour —
twelve noon
- Divine Liturgy
The Weekly Cycle of Divine
Services.
The Weekly or
Seven-day Cycle of Divine Services
is the term for the order of services which extends for the duration of
the
seven weekdays. Each day of the week is dedicated to one or another
important
event or an exceptionally revered saint.
- On Sunday, the
Church remembers and glorifies the
Resurrection of Christ.
- On Monday, the
first day after the Resurrection,
the bodiless hosts are celebrated, the angels which were created before
the
human race, and which are the closest servants of God.
- On Tuesday, St. John the
Baptist is glorified as the greatest of the prophets and righteous of
the Old
Testament.
- On Wednesday, the
betrayal of the Lord by Judas is
remembered, and in connection with this the services are centered around
the
Cross of the Lord. This day is a fast day.
- On Thursday the
Holy Apostles and St. Nicholas the
Wonderworker are glorified.
- On Friday the
Passion and death of the Saviour on
the Cross is remembered, and the services honor the Cross of the Lord.
This day
is kept as a fast day also.
- On Saturday, the
Sabbath or Day of Rest, the
Mother of God is glorified (who is also glorified on every other day),
along
with the forefathers, prophets, apostles, martyrs, monastics, righteous
and all
the saints who have attained peace in the Lord. Also, all those who have
reposed in the true faith and in the hope of resurrection and life
eternal are
remembered.
The Annual Cycle of Divine
Services.
The Annual Cycle
of Divine Services is the term
for the order of services conducted during the course of the entire
calendar
year.
Each day of the
year is dedicated to the memory of
one or more saints and to special sacred events, either in the form of
feast
days or fasts.
Of all the feasts
of the year the greatest is the
feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, Pascha, the feast of feasts.
Pascha
occurs no earlier than the twenty-second of March (the fourth of April,
new
style) and no later than the twenty-fifth of April (the eighth of May,
new
style), on the first Sunday after the equinoxal new moon and always
after the
Jewish celebration of Passover.
In addition,
throughout the year twelve great
feasts are held in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Theotokos.
Also,
there are feasts in honor of the great saints and in honor of the
bodiless
hosts of heaven, the angels. Thus the festivals of the year are
distinguished,
by their content, into those of the Lord, the Theotokos, and the saints.
With regard to
their date, the celebration of the
feasts is divided into those which are immovable, those which occur
every year
on the same calendar date of the months, and those which are movable,
those
which occur on the same day of the week, but may fall on various dates
of a
month due to their relationship to the celebration of Pascha.
In the solemnity
of their celebration the church
services of the feasts are distinguished according to various degrees.
The
great feasts are always celebrated with an All-night Vigil, other lesser
feasts
sometimes have a Vigil, according to custom. The solemnity and joy of
other
days in the church year is determined by guidelines indicated in the
rubrics.
The church year
begins on the first of September, and the entire yearly
cycle of
divine services is constructed around its relationship to Pascha.
