Akathisma (Greek: κάθισμα; Church Slavonic: каѳисма,kafisma), literally, "seat", is a division of thePsalter, used in theEastern Orthodox andByzantine RiteCatholic churches. The word may also describe a hymn sung atMatins, a seat used in monastic churches, or a type of monastic establishment.

According to ancient practice, monastics recite all 150psalms on a regular basis. Originally, thehermits in the desert would recite the entire Psalter every day. With the spread ofcenobitic monasticism, the practice began of chanting theCanonical Hours in common, and the Psalter thus became the foundation of theDaily Office, augmented by numerous hymns, prayers and scriptural readings. The custom grew of reciting all 150 psalms each week during the course of the services.

To facilitate this, the 150 psalms were divided into 20 sections, calledkathismata (Greek:καθίσματα;Church Slavonic:Каѳи́змы,romanized: Kafizmy, meaning literally, "sittings"). Each kathisma is further subdivided into threestaseis (Greek:στάσεις), literally, "standings". As indicated by the latter etymology, the ancient practice was to stand while singing the psalms (which was done by all the monks). The word "kathisma" used to refer to the series of hymns sung after a section of the psalter had been read, during the office ofMatins and the original name for these 20 sections was "stichologia". Because the section of the psalter and the hymns sung afterwards are so closely connected, the name for the latter eventually came to be used for the former^[1].

Today, the psalms are read, only the reader stands and other people in attendance sit, until thereader says "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit..." at which all stand in honor of theHoly Trinity. This is called a doxology, and is repeated after each stasis, followed by the threefold "Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, o God!". The following stasis is introduced by a triple "Kyrie eleison" and a doxology. These may be sung or read, depending on the season^[2].

The Orthodox Church uses as its official version of theOld Testament, the ancientSeptuagint (Greek) as opposed to the more recentMasoretic (Hebrew)recension. For this reason, the numbering of the psalms follows the Greek rather than the Hebrew (theKing James Version of the Bible follows the Hebrew numbering). The difference in numbering can be determined from the following table:

The divisions of the psalms into kathismata is as follows (using the Septuagint numbering):

The kathismata are divided up betweenVespers andMatins, so that all 150 psalms are read during the course of the week. Normally there is one kathisma at Vespers and either two or three at Matins, depending on the day of the week and the time of the year, according to the Church'sliturgical calendar. On Sunday nights and the nights following anAll-Night Vigil, there will be no kathisma at Vespers. DuringGreat Lent, kathismata are read during theLittle Hours also, so that the entire Psalter is completed twice in a week.

Besides the 150 Psalms, the Psalter also contains the nine biblicalCanticles which are chanted at matins alongside thecanon which evolved from them.

Kathisma XVII, which is composed entirely ofPsalm 118, "The Psalm of theLaw," is an important component of Matins on Saturdays, some Sundays, Monday-FridayMidnight office, and at thefuneral service. The entire Book of Psalms is traditionally read aloud or chanted at the side of the deceased during the whole time from death until the funeral, mirroring Jewish tradition, and is a major element of thewake. When the Psalms are read at a wake, there are special hymns andlitanies for the departed that are chanted between each kathisma, often printed at the end of the Psalter.

Somemonasteries have a tradition of a "Cell Rule" whereby each monastic will pray several kathismata a day in addition to the ones that are said publicly during the services. Some Psalters have special hymns and prayers printed between the kathismata to be read as devotions when reciting the Cell Rule. In the 20th century, some lay Christians have adopted a continuous reading of the psalms on weekdays, praying the whole book in four weeks, three times a day, one kathisma a day.

In theEast Syriac Rite, the Psalter is divided into similar sections calledhulali.

The wordkathisma initially referred to a set oftroparia (hymns) chanted after each kathisma from the Psalter at Matins, which was when monks would sit down after singing the psalms^[1]. Today they tend to be sung while standing, and may be preceded by a littleektenia (litany), depending on thetypikon in use and a number of aspects of the day'spropers. InSlavonic it is called asedálen fromsediti, "to sit" (Cf.Latinsedere, "to sit").^[3] For the sake of clarity, many translations into English use the termSessional Hymns orSedalen to indicate these hymns as distinct from the kathisma of psalms they follow. Hymns with the same name are also used after the third ode of thecanon.

The third meaning ofkathisma is its original sense: a seat, stall or box in the sense of a theatre box. (It is related to the word 'cathedral', meaning where a bishop sits, and the phrase 'ex cathedra', which literally means 'from the chair'.) The term was used for the Imperial box at theHippodrome of Constantinople. In this sense, kathismata (also calledstasidia) are thechoir stalls used in Orthodox monasteries. Instead of being a long bench, like apew, the kathismata are a row of individual seats with full backs attached to the walls. The seats are hinged and lift up so themonk ornun can stand upright for the services. The backs are shaped at the top to form arm rests that the monastic can use when he is standing. Often the hinged seat will have amisericord (small wooden seat) on the underside on which he can lean while standing during the long services. Monasteries will often have strict rules as to when the monastics may sit and when they must stand during the services. There will be two rows of kathismata, one on the rightkliros (choir), and one on the left.

The bishop has a special kathisma which is more ornate than the ordinary monk's. It is normally located on the right kliros (choir), at the westernmost end, and is often elevated above the others and may have a canopy above it (seecathedra).

AtMount Athos, each monastic establishment, large or small, belongs to one of twenty "Sovereign Monasteries." The smallest type of these monastic establishments is called akathisma: it is asimple abode for one solitary monk.

• "Psalter" at Orthodox Wiki
• Greek Bishop standing at his episcopal kathisma (Church of the Holy Sepulchre)
• Jonathan Lipnick,The First Church Dedicated Entirely To Mary, in Biblical Hebrew & Greek, 20 July 2016Archived 21 November 2016 at theWayback Machine; about theChurch of the Seat of Mary (Kathisma) on the Jerusalem-Bethlehem road

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