{"id":2797,"date":"2020-03-27T14:43:09","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T20:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/?page_id=2797"},"modified":"2020-03-27T16:15:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T22:15:27","slug":"vespers-and-matins","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/vespers-and-matins\/","title":{"rendered":"Vespers and Matins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vespers<\/em><\/h2>\n

The unique theological, spiritual, poetic, and artistic riches of Vespers help us to integrate more deeply into our lives the history of salvation. Fundamentally, Vespers is a prayer in which we alternately glorify the Lord, ask for his gifts, and repent for our sins.<\/p>\n

In Psalm 103<\/em><\/strong> we praise the Lord for his creation.<\/p>\n

Then, in a series of penitential psalms (\u201cLord, I have cried out to you<\/em><\/strong>\u201d \u2013 Ps140; 141; 129; 116) we express repentance and ask for forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Important elements of Vespers are incense and light<\/em><\/strong>. The rising smoke of incense expresses our penitential prayer ascending to the Lord.<\/p>\n

Then, in the ancient hymn \u201cTranquil Light<\/em><\/strong>,\u201d we sing of Christ who, through the weakness that he endured on the cross, overcame the devil\u2019s power and \u201cgave life to all the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the hymn \u201cDeign, O Lord<\/em><\/strong>,\u201d we ask for protection from sin \u201cthis evening.\u201d We pray that the light of God\u2019s commandments will provide that protection.<\/p>\n

Vespers culminates in the singing of the Song of Simeon<\/em><\/strong>, \u201cNow you dismiss your servant, O Lord<\/em>\u201d (see Lk 2:29-32). Simeon is known as \u201cthe one who received God.\u201d In this canticle, the whole community, along with Simeon, expresses the joy of having encountered the Lord \u201cthis evening.\u201d But the hymn also voices our readiness to encounter him in glory, when we see him \u201cface to face<\/em>\u201d (see 1 Cor 13:12). Then, we shall fully see the salvation of God, \u201cprepared before the face of all peoples<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Eastern Rite Church\u2019s daily cycle of prayer is built on the ideal of unceasing prayer, expressed in the biblical number seven. This number is a symbol of fullness and perfection. The Scriptures proclaim: \u201cSeven times a day I praise you, for your righteous ordinances<\/em>\u201d (Ps 118 :164). The foundation of this rule of prayer is the Psalms.<\/p>\n

In Divine Services, these biblical Psalms are interspersed with other prayers: hymns, stichera, troparia, kondakia, prokeimena, litanies, etc<\/em>. The services of the daily cycle are Vespers, Compline, the Midnight Office, Matins, and the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours, as well as the Service of Typica.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Lord God created the world in time, with an alternation of light and darkness \u2013 that is, day and night \u2013 as well as the seasons of the year: \u201cLet there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years<\/em>\u201d (Gn 1:14). The sequence of night and day in the story of creation of the world is a sign of the creative act of God, who brought all from non-existence into existence. This is why, as a memorial of this act, the services of the daily cycle begin in the evening: \u201cAnd there was evening and there was morning…<\/em>\u201d (Gn 1:5ff).<\/p>\n

A day, according to the Holy Scripture, is a period of life. The Lord God created the light, separating it from darkness. This is the meaning of the daily liturgical cycle: the raising of creation from the darkness of nonbeing to the light of being, and then, from visible light to light unseen.<\/p>\n

This is why the biblical day, as a symbol of the nearing of the world to God and the entering of God into the world, is at the same time the liturgical day.<\/p>\n

Matins<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

The core parts of Matins are the Six Psalms, the Gospel reading (when appointed), the Canon, the Psalms of Praise, and the Doxology. The Six Psalms (also known as the Hexapsalm), which open Matins, reveal the faithful keeping watch in expectation of the victorious approach of Christ\u2019s light. In the history of salvation the \u201cmorning,\u201d or \u201csunrise,\u201d is a theophany, the coming of \u201clight into darkness.\u201d Its beginning was in Bethlehem. Thus, at the beginning of Matins we sing the angelic hymn of Christmas: \u201cGlory to God in the highest; and on earth peace, among people good will.\u201d God\u2019s light shone on the river Jordan, and we confess this too when we sing: \u201cThe Lord is God and has appeared to us. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.\u201d The Resurrection of Christ is another victory of light over darkness. The joy of this victory is wonder\u00adfully expressed in the hymn \u201cThe angelic host was amazed,\u201d (the Evloga\u00adtaria) sung every week at Sunday (Resurrection) Matins. Indeed, as the myrrh-bearing women hurried at sunrise to the Lord\u2019s tomb, an angel appeared to them proclaiming \u201cthe great Light,\u201d Christ\u2019s Resurrection.<\/p>\n

In the Resurrection Gospel we hear the angel announce: \u201cHe has risen, he is not here\u201d (Mk <\/em>16:6). And Christ himself declares: \u201cPut your finger here \u2026 do not doubt but believe\u201d ( Jn <\/em>20:27). Similar to the myrrh-bearing women, the faithful confess the Risen Lord in the hymn \u201cNow that we have seen the Resurrection of Christ,\u201d and approach the tetra\u00adpod to kiss the Gospel.<\/p>\n

After Psalm 50[51] (\u201cHave mercy on me, O God\u201d), the Canon is sung. This is a poetic composition that narrates the liturgical event being cel\u00adebrated. It does so in the light of biblical salvation history. The nine odes of the Canon (though the second ode is only sung in Great Lent) begin by hymning Israel\u2019s liberation from Egyptian slavery. Subse\u00adquently, the prayer-hymns of several Old Testament prophets comprise the other odes. The Canon culminates with the ninth ode and its praise of the most pure Virgin Mary. She is extolled as \u201cthe Mother of God [Theotokos] and the Mother of Light.\u201d After the Canon, as the sun becomes brighter, the Church exalts Christ, the life-giving Light: \u201cO Christ God, send me your light, and enlighten my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

The joy of the soul illumined by Christ\u2019s Light is expressed in the Psalms of Praise (Ps <\/em>148-150). Here we call on all creation to glorify God and bless him for the gift of light\u2014the revelation of his Son. Hence, at the culmination of Matins the priest introduces the Great Doxology with the words: \u201cGlory to you, who have shown us the Light!\u201d Beholding this light, we are led to divine contemplation. We thus sing: \u201cIn your light we shall see light.\u201d Indeed, in the light <\/em>of Christ we are able to see the unapproachable light <\/em>of God\u2019s glory. Matins concludes with thanksgiv\u00ading and petitions for the entire Church community and for the life of the world.<\/p>\n

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Vespers The unique theological, spiritual, poetic, and artistic riches of Vespers help us to integrate more deeply into our lives the history of salvation. Fundamentally, Vespers is a prayer in which we alternately glorify the Lord, ask for his gifts, and repent for our sins. In Psalm 103 we praise the Lord for his creation. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2797"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2858,"href":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2797\/revisions\/2858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/st-athanasius.ca\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}