LITURGICAL SERVICES

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LITURGICAL

SERVICES

OF SERVICES

There are already many good English liturgical translations available on the web, but they cannot be used universally by the Church because each local Church translates according to her own needs. By this I mean that United Kingdom English is often very different from American English, and hymns translated by the Russian Church to be sung with a Russian chant cannot be sung with the Greek Church's Byzantine melodies. Again there are those who prefer a modern language, others who prefer the older traditional language of the Authorized King James Bible and the Anglican Church's Common prayer book, and others who prefer somewhere in-between. My translations are somewhere in-between, but leaning more to the 'older traditional'. Psalms and Readings from the Old and New Testaments are according to the Authorized King James Version. In the case of single verses from the Old Testament which vary considerably from the Septuagint Version, I have made my own translations. Numbering of the Psalms is from the Septuagint, but in most places I have also noted the King James numbering in brackets Most of the hymns can be sung with the Byzantine melodies according to their Greek equivalent.

{See note on translations in the Hymns section of the Index}

The Typicon [Rubrics] used is that used by the Church of Cyprus.

Note: Various Colours are used for easy use. The coding is as follows:

RED IN CAPITAL LETTERS are used to specify who says what e.g. PRIEST, DEACON, CHOIR, READER.

Red in lower case are used for giving directions on what to do or other information that might be useful to the Priest or Deacon or where options are given e.g. city [monastery], or our Archbishop [Name] etc.

The words in the services that are spoken or sung are in black print beginning with the first letter in large Blue or large Green.

Those said by the Priest or the Deacon begin with Blue.

Those said by the choir or the reader begin with Green.

If a Priest shall minister without a Deacon he shall not say on his account the words appointed to the Deacon which are in grey print neither those words appointed to the Priest that are in grey print but begin with a Blue letter.

Prayers said by the Priest in a low voice are in italics.

Note on the word Trisagion

The word Trisagion means thrice holy. In the Divine Liturgy the choir sing the Thriceholy Hymn before the reading of the Apostle and is there named Thriceholy. Elsewhere when the Trisagion is recited it means the prayers starting with the Trisagion and ending with the Lord’s Prayer as written below.

O Holy God, Holy and Strong, Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us. (3)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, world without end. Amen.

Most Holy Trinity, have mercy upon us; O Lord, cleanse us from our sins; O Master, pardon our transgressions; O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy Name’s sake.

Kyrie eleison or Lord have mercy. [3]

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever: world without end. Amen.

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The Services are in four groups:

The Hieratikon: [The Priest's Service Book.] This is the book used by the Priest for the Divine Liturgy, Vespers, Mattins and other daily services. This includes what the Choir must say, but does not include the full text.

The Choir's Handbook: This is the Choir's equivalent to the Hieratikon. It includes what the Priest must say, but does not include the full text.

The People's Handbook: Services in this section include the full text for both the Priest and the Choir and therefore more suitable for the laity to follow. Most are also juxtaposed with Greek/English text.

The Euchologion: The Sacraments of Baptism, Marriage, and other services.

Under the Hymns section are Apolytikia [Dismissal] hymns, Kontakia, Hymns from the Divine Liturgy, Mattins, Vespers and other, written with the Byzantine musical notations. Most can be sung to the melodies of their Greek equivalent. Turn on your sound system and hear the melodies playing in the background or download the MP3 audio files and listen to how the hymns are sung.