Orthros is the longest and most complex of the daily cycle of services. It is normally held in the early morning, often — always inmonasteries — preceded by the midnight office, and usually followed by theFirst Hour. Ongreat feasts it is held as part of anall-night vigil commencing the evening before, combined with an augmented great vespers and the first hour. In the Russian tradition, an all-night vigil is celebrated every Saturday evening, typically abridged, however, in spite of its name, to as short as two hours. In the Greek parish tradition, orthros is typically held immediately prior to the beginning of thedivine liturgy on Sunday and feast day mornings.
Theakolouth (fixed portion of the service) is composed primarily ofpsalms andlitanies. Thesequences (variable parts) of matins are composed primarily of hymns andcanons from theoctoechos (an eight-tone cycle of hymns for each day of the week, covering eight weeks), and from themenaion (hymns for each calendar day of the year). Duringgreat lent and some of the period preceding it, some of the portions from the octoechos and menaion are replaced by hymns from thetriodion and during thepaschal season with material from thepentecostarion. On Sundays there is also agospel reading and corresponding hymns from the eleven-part cycle of resurrectional gospels.
All of the psalms used herein are numbered according to theSeptuagint, which is the official version of theOld Testament used by the Byzantine Rite. To find the correspondingKJV numbering, see the articleKathisma.
Matins usually opens with what is called the "Royal Beginning", so called because the psalms (19 and 20) speak of a king. The royal beginning is not used in Greek parish practice; also, it is omitted at all-night vigil (during Paschal season it is replaced by thepaschal troparion sung thrice):
Thepriest's openingblessing:Blessed is our God ...,reader:Amen. and the usual beginning.
Psalms 19 and 20, during which the priest performs a fullcensing of thetemple (church building and worshippers).
A brief litany by the priest (not the deacon as is usual for litanies)
Ekphonesis by the priest:Glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and undivided trinity, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages
The Six Psalms (3, 37, 62, 87, 102, and 142),[a] during which the priest says twelve silent prayers: six in front of theHoly Table (altar), and six in front of theHoly Doors. The monastic typikon orders the priest to read them in front of the closed altar doors.
The Six Psalms (Greek: Ἑξάψαλμος,Hexapsalmos) were originally associated with the Midnight Office, whose theme was primarily on the Second Coming and the Final Judgement. For this reason, there is traditionally no movement in the church including no reverencing of icons or making the sign of the cross.
Verses from Psalm 117 are interspersed between each chanting ofGod is the Lord. These are Psalm 117:1, 117:10 & 117:23.
Many traditions recite Psalm 105:1 as the first verse. This is the result of a scribal error due to the similarities of that verse with the original verse quoting Psalm 117:1.
ThePsalter (either two or three sections, depending upon the liturgical season). For each section the following order is followed:
On Sundays, and every day during Paschal season: Choir:Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ ...
Psalm 50 (Plain-read in Slavic traditions; Chanted in Greek traditions)
Pentecostarion (not to be confused with the Liturgical Book deriving its name from the 50 days after Easter):
Sundays and Feast Days:Glory ..., followed by an Idiomelon... then both now ... followed by a Theotokion... Have mercy on me... followed by a final festal Idiomelon.
Sundays, Feast Days and Lenten Days, the petition: O God, save your people and bless your inheritance ..."
Ninth Ode, on most days preceded by theMagnificat, during which the deaconcenses the church
Little Litany
On Sundays,Holy is the Lord our God, three times
Theexapostilaria (hymns related to the day's gospel, or the day's feast; the name is derived from Psalm 42:3 which was originally chanted at this point)
TheLauds (Greek: Αἶνοι,Ainoi, "Praises"): Psalms 148, 149, 150;stichera are interspersed between the final verses on days the great doxology is sung,
The ending:
Thedoxastikon (the glory hymn), when chanted properly inByzantine music is the longest, and usually the richest, hymn of the service. This is sometimes followed by another doxastikon or theotokion. On Sundays it is almost always the Theotokion: "You are Supremely Blessed...".
Doxology
Sundays and feast days: theGreat Doxology is chanted, followed by the apolytikion, the two litanies and the dismissal
Weekdays: the Small Doxology is read, followed by the first litany, theaposticha,It is good to give praise unto the Lord..., the trisagion sequence followed by the apolytikion, and the second litany (there is no dismissal)
Sunday orthros—The longest of the regular orthros services - Gospel Reading and Great Doxology. If this service is celebrated in its entirety it can last up to six hours but is typically abridged.
Daily orthros—Celebrated on most weekdays - No gospel reading, Small Doxology.
Feast-day orthros—Very similar to Sunday orthros, excluding those parts which are strictly resurrectional in nature - gospel reading and Great Doxology.
Lenten orthros—Weekdays during great lent, the Wednesday and Friday ofCheesefare Week, and, optionally when there is no divine liturgy, on the weekdays of the lesser fasting seasons (Nativity Fast,Apostles' Fast andDormition Fast). The service follows the order of daily orthros but with penitential material added (hymns and prayers), most days have three kathismata from the Psalter, "God is the Lord" is replaced by "Lenten Alleluia" (from which fact these days are identified as "days with Alleluia"). The petition: "O God, save your people and bless your inheritance ..." is read by the priest. There is no gospel reading. The Small Doxology is read and there is special lenten ending of the service, including thePrayer of St. Ephraim.
Great and Holy Friday Orthros — Twelve Passion Gospels are interspersed throughout the service; Antiphons are used between the Gospels (these originated in a different office).
Great and Holy Saturday Orthros—Lamentations are chanted around theepitaphios, interspersed between the verses ofPsalm 118. Contains some elements of the old cathedral office: reading of three pericopes (lessons from theOld Testament,epistle andGospel) at the end - Great Doxology followed by the procession with epitaphios.
Paschal orthros—Celebrated duringBright Week, from the Sunday of Pascha (Easter) throughBright Saturday. The service is vastly different from the rest of the year; only the litanies,canon (the canticles of which are omitted) and lauds are the same; everything else, including the psalms, are replaced by special paschal hymns. The priest vests fully in his eucharisticvestments throughout the week. There is no doxology at all.
^One of the oldest elements in the orthros service and according to a pious tradition said to recall the Last Judgement, as Psalm 103 at vespers recalls the creation.
