Library › Offices of the Holy Eastern Church
Offices of the Holy Eastern Church
tr. Littledale, 1863
d2
Note 1
The Collects and Litany which stand first in this volume are so placed because of the important position which they hold in the Eastern Church. There is scarcely any function of which they do not form part, and they are found imbedded in the Liturgy as well as in nearly every other office. I have accordingly inserted them at length in the first instance, and merely indicated their presence afterwards, adding, however, any suffrages peculiar to the several offices. The Greater and Lesser Collects, besides this name, are known as the Εἰρηνικαί, or prayers for peace (Preces Pacificæ) from the manner of their commencement. The share of the people in them consists in the repetition of the respond: “Lord, have mercy” at the end of each suffrage, of the words “Τὸ Thee, O Lord” at the penultimate, and the Amen at the close. The greater Collect is also called the Catholic Collect, and the Ectene (ἐκτενής) either from its fervour or its length. The Litany of the Deacon, or, as it is also called, the Collect of supplications (συνάπτη τῶν αἰτήσεων) belongs to the same category. The great antiquity of these forms may be inferred not merely from their constant repetition in so many Eastern offices, but from the traces they have left in some of the rituals of the East, from which they commence to disappear only in the ninth century. (Bona.) The Roman Missal preserves some part of the ancient form in the office for Holy Saturday, but the marks of similarity are not so strong as in the rites of Milan and Liège. The former, in the office for the First Sunday in Lent, proceeds as follows:
Prayer repeated by the Deacon, with responses from the Choir. With all our heart and with all our mind beseeching the gift of Divine peace and indulgence, we pray Thee, R. Lord, have mercy.
For the whole Catholic Church, both here, and scattered through the whole world &c., For our Pope N., our Bishop N. and all their Clergy, Priests and Ministers. For Thy servant the Emperor N., Thy servant the Empress N., and for all their army. For Thy servant N., our king and leader, and for all his army.
For the peace of the Churches, the calling of the Gentiles, and the quiet of the nations.
For this city and its conversation (al. preservation), and for all its inhabitants. For good temperature of the air, and the abundance of the fruit of the ground. For virgins, orphans, widows, captives and penitents. For those at sea, travellers, those in prison, bonds, mines and exile. For them that are held, by divers infirmities, and vexed by unclean spirits.
For them who in Thy holy Church bestow the fruits of mercy.
Hear us, O Lord, in all our prayers and supplications. Let us all say. B. Lord, have mercy. (Four times.)
The Breviary of Liège contains a kindred office in the week -days at Lauds of Advent, Lent, Ember-tide, and Vigils. (Preces majores.) The prayers are of great length, but so beautiful that I prefer not to abridge them. The edition now before me is that of 1756. The first V. and R. after the Lord’s Prayer are the usual ones, but then there is a change.
V. Let us pray for every, order in the Church. R. Let Thy Priests be clothed with righteousness, and Thy Saints sing with joyfulness. V. For the peace and unity of the Church. R. Peace be within Thy walls, and plenteousness within Thy palaces. V. For our Pastor. R. The Lord preserve him, and keep him alive, and deliver him not into the hand of his enemies. V. For our king. R. O Lord, save the king, and hear us in the day when we call upon Thee. V. For all the Catholic people. R. O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance, govern them, and lift them up for ever.
V. For all our benefactors.
R. Vouchsafe, O Lord, for Thy Name’s sake, eternal Life to all who have done good unto us.
V. For travellers.
R. O Lord, save me, O LORD, prosper me. Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.
V. For the faithful who voyage.
R. Hear us, O God of our salvation, Thou that art the hope of the ends of the earth, and of them that remain in the broad sea.
V. For those at variance.
R. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep their hearts and bodies in peace. V. For our persecutors and slanderers.
R. O Lord Jesus Christ, lay not this sin to their charge, for they know not what they do.
V. For the penitents. R. Turn Thee, O Lord, at the last, and be gracious unto Thy servants. V. For the afflicted and captives. R. Deliver them, O God of Israel, from all their troubles. V. For the sick. R. Send Thy WORD, O Lord, and heal them from their destruction. V. And for the faithful departed. R. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them. V. For our sins and negligences. R. O Lord, remember not our old sins, but have mercy on us, and that soon, for we are come to great misery.
V. Help us, O God of our salvation. R. And for the glory of Thy Name, deliver us, O Lord, and be merciful to our sins for Thy Name’s sake. V. For our absent brethren. R. O Lord, save Thy servants, which put their trust in Thee. V. Send them help, O Lord, from Thy holy place. R. And strengthen them out of Sion. V. Be unto us, O Lord, a strong tower. R. From the face of the enemy. V. Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.
Then follows the De Profundis, after which the usual V’s and R’s before the Collect of the day. Although the marks of Eastern origin are not very distinct in the Litanies of Sarum and York, on which that of the Book of Common Prayer is based, yet the Anglican Litany of the eighth century which Mabillon has printed (and which is in turn the source of our Breviary ones) retains them very clearly. I append some of its suffrages, V. That Thou mayest grant us peace. B. We beseech Thee to hear us. That Thou mayest grant us life and health. That Thou mayest grant us perseverance in good works. That Thou mayest be pleased to keep us in the true faith and religion. That Thou mayest preserve the Catholic Church. That Thou mayest preserve our King and our Bishop. That Thou mayest grant them life and health. That Thou mayest vouchsafe to bestow on the Christian people peace and unity. That Thou mayest grant us the fruits of the earth. That Thou mayest grant us calm weather. That Thou mayest give us rain in due season. That Thou mayest give us charity. That Thou mayest grant us true repentance. That thou mayest be pleased to preserve the Clergy and people of England. That Thou mayest be pleased to preserve the whole assembly of the Saints. That Thou mayest be pleased to keep it in the true faith and religion.
Note 2
The ceremonies observed in this rite are all symbolical. The laying aside of the garments implies the putting off of the old man; the uncovered head and bared feet denote humility. (S. Aug. ad Catechum. 2, 1.); the posture towards the East is looking for CaRisT as the deliverer from sin; and the lowered hands signify the state of bondage in which the unbaptized are.
The catechumen is turned to the West when he is called on to renounce Satan and bid defiance to him, and his hands are raised as those of a freeman ready for combat. They are lowered once more as he turns again to the East, in token of accepting service under Carist, and becoming His soldier.
The Exorcism is really one, through broken up into three portions. In some of the Western offices, as for example the Sarum use, it is also divided and called by two distinct names: exorcism and adjuration.
There is a difference in the Creed employed in the function. The East uses the Nicene, the West that of the Apostles. Contrary to the usual wont in such matters, the East is in this respect the innovator. The signing with the Cross was also differently accomplished in various Churches. The rubric in the present office enjoins three signings of the forehead and breast. The Sarum rite has three signings, all on the forehead. The Ambrosian also mentions only the forehead and that once. The Gallican Sacramentary published by Mabillon (Mus. Ital. 1. 323) says “Receive the sign of the cross as well on the forehead as on the heart”, but this makes only two signings. The Mozarabic office is fourfold, on the eyes, ears, nostrils and heart. The full development I find thus set forth in the Enchiridion Christianæ Institutionis, drawn up at Cologne in 1536. The copy in my possession is dated 1538, and I find the following explanation on the verso of fol. LXXX.
“Then the sign of the Cross is made first on the forehead, to denote that the catechumen gives his name to CHRIST crucified, in Whom he trusts, and Whom he need never blush to confess. Then upon the eyes, that we may understand that he is being prepared to behold the Glory of God. On the ears also, that we may understand that he is being sanctified to hear the word of God’s truth. On the nostrils too, that he may perceive the sweetness of the savour of God. The breast likewise is signed, that he may believe in his heart, for with the heart man believeth-to righteousness. The shoulders likewise, that he may take on him the yoke of God’s service, according to CHRIST’s command “Take my yoke upon you”. The mouth finally, that it may confess unto Him, for with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. To these the Roman rite adds now the signing of the whole body. The imposition of hands and the breathing are common to all the rites. The use of oil and salt (and occasionally of saliva and clay) in the West is of later introduction, and is not found in the Gallican and Mozarabic offices; although it was already familiar at the beginning of the eighth century, as we find it described by S. Isidore of Seville.
Note 3
There is a difference between East and West at the very outset of the Baptismal office. The Eastern rubric enjoins the full festal vesting of white to the officiant, while in the West the priest is directed to wear the violet or mourning stole, until he is actually about to baptize, when he changes it for a white one. The lighted candles mentioned in the rubric are not the church or altar tapers, but three tapers fastened on the edge of the font, and others which are put into the hands of the sponsors.
Note 4
This prayer beginning Μέγας Κύριε, is but a part of a longer form composed by S. Sophronius, who was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem about the beginning of A. D. 634. He is the fifty-eighth prelate of that see in Le Quien’s list, the sixty-second in others. Named the Sophist in honour of his great learning, he took a prominent part in the theological discussions of the age, and especially in the Monothelite controversy. Le Quien, differing from the Bollandists, assigns his death to A. D. 644. The office for which the prayer was composed is the great hallowing of water on the feast of the Epiphany. It will be found in Goar, Euchologion. Pages 453—61.
Note 5
The oil mentioned here must be carefully distinguished from the εὐχέλαιον or prayer-oil and the ἄγεον μύρον, or holy chrism. That used in Holy Baptism is, as the rubric shews, consecrated by a single priest at the actual time when he is about to use it. The prayer-oil, employed for the unction of the sick, is blessed in the patient’s dwelling by seven priests, in strict compliance with S. James v. 14. The Holy Chrism, for Confirmations, Ordinations &c., is consecrated by the Bishop annually on Maundy Thursday and used as required. The distribution is the same as that of the Latin Church, which recognizes the Oil of Catechumens, for Baptism, Confirmation, and Consecration of the Altars; the Oil of the Sick; and the Holy Chrism, for Ordinations. But the Latin Bishops retain the right of hallowing all these in their own hands, and do so on Maundy Thursday. The Greek Church recognizes two other kinds of holy oil, that which is blessed for use in Church - lamps, and oil of the Holy Cross, which appears to be, according to Dr. Neale, that into which a particle of the true Cross has been dipped, while Du Cange would extend the meaning of the term to any oil burned before the Cross in a Church.
Note 6
The rite of making crosses in the water with the oil is common to the West. Ælfric, as quoted by Maskell, Monument, Ritual. 1. 3. directs “In the holy font, before ye baptize them, ye shall pour chrism in the form of Christ’s Cross.” So too in the ancient Gallican Sacramentary (Mabillon, Mus. Ital. 1. 324) is the following rubric. “Deinde in Fonte Chrisma decurrente signum † facis et dicis: Infusio chrismæ salutaris Domini nostri JEsu CHRISTI, ut fiat fons aquæ vivæ salientis cunctis venientibus in vitam æternam.” The Roman rite has a similar rubric with a different prayer.
Note 7
There is some difference in the rite of unction in the East and the West. Here we have first a triple unction of forehead, breast, and back. Then the breast and back once again, with a form said at the first, then the ears, feet, and hands, and finally the whole body. This makes nine anointings, all of them previous to the actual baptism. The Bangor Pontifical directs only unction of the breast and shoulders with the holy oil, and the same is the rubric of Winchester and Sarum, and also of the modern Roman office. The Gallican Sacramentary directs unction of the nostrils, ears, and breast. The interrogation of belief appears at this point in the Western offices instead of belonging to a previous rite, that of the admission of Catechumens. The renunciation of Satan and his works is also a part of the actual baptismal formularies of the Latin Churches. One rite, that of putting a lighted taper into the Catechumen’s hands, has disappeared in the East, although the West still retains it.
Note 8
The ancient baptisteries of the East were constructed of sufficient depth for the adult catechumen to be immersed up to his elbows, and then he was either dipped three times, or else water was thrice poured on his head as he stood in the font. But in either case the greater portion of his body was permanently immersed during the actual baptism.
Note 9
It will be observed that the third person is used instead of the first in the Constantinopolitan rite. This agrees with the Armenian form and that of some other Eastern Communions, while it differs from the universal practice of the West. Its equal validity has, however, been recognized by the Council of Florence.
Note 10
The significant rite of clothing the newly-baptized in a white dress (formerly called in England the chrisom-robe) is of great antiquity and widely spread, though not by any means universal either in the East or West. It is at least as early as the third century, and may most probably be assigned to a date long antecedent. The form in which it was bestowed varied much, but was always brief. To this custom was added in many parts of the East and West the chrisom-veil, which was placed on the infant’s head immediately after the unction. It does not appear before the eighth century, and I can find no traces of its Western use out of Italy, France and Germany. At the time of putting on the chrisom-robe a metal Cross is hung round the infant’s neck’in the East. I have not found this ceremony in Western office-books, nor yet the Western one of washing the feet in Eastern ones. Both are obviously of comparatively late introduction.
Note 11
This anointing with the Holy Chrism is, as is well known, the time and rite of Confirmation in the Eastern Church, which in this particular is at variance with the modern usage of the West. The differences are two in number, and perhaps three. 1. As to the time. 2. As to the minister. 3. As to the formal cause of the Sacrament. There is no trace in the East of the first of these having ever been other than it is now, immediately subsequent on the act of baptism, and even the Latin Church, which postpones Confirmation (though not for the length of time which a grave innovation has made the rule of the English Church) bears evident marks of former adherence to the Eastern usage. Not merely have we the proof afforded by the rubric of the Gelasian Sacramentary at the close of the Baptismal office “Then the sevenfold Spirit is given to them by the Bishop,” but all the elder rites, agreed with herein by the modern Roman usage, have a remarkable rubric after the act of baptism. Thus the Gallican Sacramentary directs, “You pour chrism on his forehead, saying: God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath regenerated thee with water and the Holy GHOST, whatever He hath bestowed on thee, remission of sins through the laver of regeneration and through blood, anoint thee with His holy chrism unto eternal life.” Similarly the Sarum Pontifical. “When the child has come out of the font, let the Priest take some chrism with his thumb, saying: The Lord be with you, and Let us pray. Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus CHRIST, Who hath regenerated thee with water and the Holy GHOST, and hath given thee remission of all thy sins: Here he is to anoint the child with the chrism in the form of a cross on the top of its head with his thumb saying: He anoints thee with the chrism of salvation in the same His Son our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Precisely similar is the present Roman rubric, and the injunction of Ælfric. As these offices stand now there is no very obvious reason why holy oil should be used before, and holy chrism after baptism, and there is not any very marked difference in the character of the prayers used on the two occasions, but if we regard them as relics of the Eastern rule, where the Priest is on the one hand the consecrator of the oil, and on the other the administrator of the episcopally consecrated chrism, it will be sufficiently clear how they have retained their place even after a change in discipline had altered their meaning or at any rate their intention. How completely the meaning of the chrismation had been forgotten appears from the York Pontifical which contains a remarkable rubric after that quoted above, in contradiction to its real spirit and yet confirmatory of the argument. It runs as follows: “If the Bishop be present, he (the newly-baptized) ought to be confirmed immediately. Similarly the Sarum rite, although both go on in a subsequent rubric to direct that infants are to be kept back till they arrive at seven years of age. The Priest is the ordinary minister of Confirmation in the East, and the Bishop in the West. But on the one hand it is admitted by the Easterns that the Priest only acts as the proximate minister of the rite, and as the Vicar of the Bishop, who, by the chrism which he must himself have hallowed, is the efficient, though remoter bestower of the gift. On the other hand the Latins have admitted as well in the Council of Florence as elsewhere, that the Priest may act for the Bishop by dispensation. There is thus no serious controversy between them in this head, especially as both are agreed in assigning Confirmation the same rank amongst the seven Sacraments.
The formal cause of the Sacrament, that is, the matter plus the form, is in the East the chrismation, with the accompanying formula of words, while in the West it is matter of doubt whether it consists in chrismation and its formula or in the imposition of hands with the prayer for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Note 12
This eightfold anointing is not very early. S. Cyril of Jerusalem mentions only four applications of the chrism, on the forehead, ears, nostrils, and breast. The Latin Church signs the forehead alone, and as the tendency in all such rites is to amplify, it is probable that this latter is the more primitive custom.
Note 13
The oil which the Priest has blessed during the rite of Holy Baptism is not reserved for a fresh ceremony, but is used to burn in the church lamps, while the water is poured into consecrated ground. See Symeon of Thessalonica (ob. A. D. 1429) De Divino Templo.
Note 14
This triple office of making a catechumen, baptizing and confirming is not the entire of the Greek ritual which is engaged with children. Before and after baptism there are the following ceremonies. 1. Signing with the cross and naming the child on the eighth day after its birth. This is done in the Church, but outside the gates of the nave. 2. The second presentation of the child on the fortieth day after birth when the mother comes to be churched. This is a short and beautiful service. 3. The solemn ablution of the child on the octave of his baptism. 4. The prayer at the first cutting of the hair, performed about the same time. 5. The prayer said over a child who is about to commence the study of Holy Scripture. 6. An office said for the enlightenment of dull or froward children. 7. A special funeral office for the young.
Note 15
The Ordinal of the Greek Church contains several offices besides those which I have printed in this volume. Though the number and rank of the minor orders are not quite the same as in the West, yet they are formally recognized, and there are regular offices of admission to the several grades. There is, however, in strict usage, a different phrase used to devote the lesser ordinations from that employed in speaking of the diaconate, priesthood, and episcopate. In the former case the term is ζειρο- ϑεσία, in the latter χειροτονία. The distinction is analogous to that in the English Prayer-Book, which speaks of the making of Deacons, the ordering of Priests, and the consecration of Bishops. The minor orders practically recognized now in the East are 1. Singer. 2. Reader. 3. Subdeacon. These grades are necessary steps to the higher ones, and are often, especially the first one, permanent. Besides these, the offices of the sexton, acolyth, parish clerk &c. are usually held by persons who have received the tonsure, and who are in a certain sense ranked amongst the clergy, although not ‘quite so definitely as in the Latin communion. The singers disappeared as a distinct grade in the West about the close of the fourteenth century, but are still retained in the East. The form of ordination is very simple. The candidate is brought to the Bishop in his ordinary dress if he be a laic, and in a mandyas if a monk, and is signed thrice with the sign of the Cross and receives a partial tonsure at the Bishop’s hands. This is completed by one of the officials present, and the candidate is again led up to the Bishop, who gives him the sticharion, or clerical robe, crosses him again thrice, and utters a prayer over him. Then if he be a Singer, the Psalter is put into his hands, and if he be a Reader, the Book of Epistles. He reads a portion, and then receives the Bishop’s blessing. The ceremony usually takes place, at least in Russia, during the Liturgy. A fuller office for the Ordination of a Reader given by Goar contains some peculiarities. The Bishop vests himself in chasuble and pall to receive him, and after the reading of the first portion of 8S, Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, the candidate takes a ewer, basin and maniple and gives them to the Bishop to wash, repeating the formula “As many faithful as are present, again and again in peace let us make our supplication to the Lord”. The Bishop then repeats to him a short address on the nature of his office and dismisses him with the blessing. The Subdeacon, as a more important official, is admitted somewhat more formally. He is not, indeed, ranked amongst the members of the greater orders, as now in the West, but is nevertheless in a much higher position than the Reader. The Bishop awaits him at the Beautiful Gates, where he is divested, vested anew in the sticharion and zone, and a ewer, basin, and towel are brought forward. The Bishop crosses him thrice, lays his hand on his head, and offers a prayer. At its close he takes the maniple, lays it on the Subdeacon’s left shoulder, and gives him the ewer and basin. He then kisses the Bishop’s hand, and pours water over both his hands that he may wash. He receives the blessing, proceeds to the outside of the holy doors, and there repeats the Trisagion, the All Holy Trinity, the Our Father, the Kyrie Eleison, the Creed and the prayer for pardon. The Great Entrance then takes place, before which the Bishop again washes and the Subdeacon walks last, still carrying the ewer and basin. The higher clergy then enter the Bema, while he remains outside, and the Liturgy proceeds.
Note 16
We have now to consider the form of the ordination of a Deacon, who is in the East a person of incomparably greater importance than he is in the West.
It is not merely that he can discharge certain functions, but that as a matter of rule most of those which he does discharge cannot be performed by any other. Especially his duties in the Liturgy are most clearly defined and are entirely peculiar to his office, inasmuch as the custom, common in the West, of a Priest or a Bishop acting as a subordinate minister at the Holy Eucharist, is totally at variance with Eastern usage and ideas. Of such importance is the due execution of his share in Divine Service considered, that the only document in the Greek Church which accurately answers to a Latin Ceremonial, is that called Διάταξες τῆς ἵερο- διακονίας, or Order of the Sacred Diaconate, prescribing the gestures and words which the Deacon is to use in assisting at Vespers, Matins, and Mass. This manual was drawn up by Philotheus, Patriarch of Constantinople. He is the 137th Bishop of that see in Le Quien’s list, and sat, with the exception of about two years, from 1354 till 1376. No parish in the Greek communion is considered to be organized which has not a resident Deacon as well as a Priest, and in Russia the glebe assigned for the support of these two is also expected to maintain the parish clerk and the sexton. The proceeds, as well as the income from fees &c., are divided in the following proportion: 40 per cent to the Priest, 30 to the Deacon, and the remaining 30 is divided equally between the clerk and sexton.
Note 17
The time of ordination is fixed by this rubric, for the Exclamation And the mercies &c. is made by the Priest in the Liturgy immediately after the Commemoration of the living and the dead.
Note 18
The Solea, here mentioned, appears to be the prolongation of the raised floor of the bema outside the holy doors, being thus a place of intermediate rank between the choir and the bema itself. This was the furthest point to which the Council of Laodicea permitted any below the grade of deacon to advance, and accordingly we find the rubric here directing the candidate-deacon to be admitted into the Sanctuary, wheras, as we saw above, the Subdeacon on his ordination was obliged to halt at the doors.
Note 19
The entire of the hymn referred to here is ‘‘Holy Martyrs, who valiantly contended, and are crowned, intercede with the Lord that He may have mercy on our souls.” It is sung during the triple procession round the altar in taken of readiness to endure martyrdom on behalf of the Catholic Faith.
Note 20
The zone and short cassock, maniple, ewer and basin, marking subdiaconal rank, are now taken from the Candidate.
The placing of the Stole on the left shoulder only is common to the Western rites as well as to the Eastern. The former add now the delivery of the Gospels to the new ordained Deacon, which, however, is of late introduction even in the West, save in England, where it is found in the Pontifical of Archbishop Egbert, and is still retained in the Anglican Ordinal, although a great part of the symbolical meaning of the ceremony is obscured by the delivery of the whole New Testament instead of the Gospels alone, thus failing to mark the wide difference made in the Early Church between them and the Epistles, which a Reader might recite in Divine Service, whereas no one below the rank of Deacon, nor at first, as it would seem, below that of Priest, was permitted to read the Gospels aloud in the churches.
Note 21
This fan was originally made of feathers, and used to keep flies off the Altar. It is now merely ornamental, is made of silver, and is often in ‘the form of a rod tipped with the head of a six-winged Cherub.
Note 22
This office has only an archaeological interest, for it has been unused in the Eastern Church since the twelfth century, and it had become very rare long before that date. In the West the Deaconesses were for the most part suppressed in the sixth century, and although they are mentioned in the Acts of the Council of Worms in A. D. 868, and once or twice as late as the eleventh century, yet they have been practically in abeyance for more than a thousand years. No corresponding rite is now found in the Western Pontificials, but Muratori has printed an ancient example of it. (Antiq. Ital. ed. 1778. XIII. 554.) It resembles in some respects the office used in later times for the benediction of an abbess (called Deaconess by Abelard ep. VIII), but agrees with the Greek rite in giving the stole in the course of the function.
Note 23
This rite was for a long time retained by the Bishops in the appointment and installation of Abbesses, in order that by placing persons of clerical rank at the head of the convents, these might be deprived of their lay character and independence and be subjected to episcopal jurisdiction.
Hence there is a close resemblance between this office and the Western Benediction of an Abbess, That which seems to me to bear the closest resemblance to this, is the office given in the Gallican sacramentary.
‘‘Almighty Lord God, with Whom is no distinction of sex, nor any disparity of holy souls, Who both strengthenest men for spiritual conflicts, and dost not abandon women, we humbly beseech Thy mercy, that Thy strengthening clemency may never depart from this Thy servant, whom we desire, by the imposition of our hands and by this covering of a veil, may become Mother of the holy band of virgins in the convent (N.). Grant to her, O Lord, strength to carry on spiritual combats, that she may not hurt that which is honorable, and please that which is dishonorable, and that so enlightened by Thee, she may, by constant admonition, make the number of souls committed to her serve Thy Holy Name, so that, not troubled by the loss of any of them, she may joyfully be united to the court of Thy Mother, to be crowned in bliss with all her children.”
Note 24
The use of the diaconal stole and the right of handling the holy vessels and entering the Bema, mark the Deaconess off as of higher ecclesiastical rank than the Subdeacon, to whom both these privileges were forbidden by the Council of Laodicea. The Greek Church calls the greater orders “those within the Bema” and the lesser “without the Bema”.
Note 25
This rubric marks a different point in the Liturgy from that where the Ordination of Deacons begins. The Cherubic Hymn lies between the Prayers for the Faithful and the Great Entrance in the Liturgy of S. Chrysostom. It is a comparatively late composition, and is not to be confounded with the Trisagion or Angelic hymn,
Note 26
This rite of two priests leading the candidate up to the Bishop, precisely analogous as it is to that observed in the case of Deacons, is also found in the old Ordo Romanus, whereas the Sarum office agrees with the modern English ordinal in making the Archdeacon the presenter. The first and second priests mentioned here are much what we should call the Dean and Sub-dean of the Cathedral.
Note 27
This ceremony, marking the full acceptance of the yoke of the Gospel, is found in the West also. The orarion or Deacon’s stole, marked with the words A roc, Arroc, Arioc, is like the Western stole in form, but after the day of ordination the new Priest changes it for the epitrackelion, which is different in pattern and mode of wearing. It is a very broad band of silk or cloth with a hole at one end to put the head through, and a seam down the centre, which makes it in some degree like the Priest’s stole of the West.
Note 28
Symeon of Thessalonica, in his gloss on this curious rite, states that a particle of the Blessed Sacrament is given to the new Priest, to shew that it is the direct ministration of our Lord Himself which he has now taken upon him. But Goar, quoting two ancient MSS. argues that only an unconsecrated Host was at first so given, as a symbol of the sacrificial office. He adds from Arcadius that such was also the rule in Russia. But it had disappeared in Dr. King’s time, for I find no such rubric in his “Rites of the Greek Church in Russia”.
Note 29
The separation of this portion of the Sacerdotal office from the earlier, which gives power to administer all the Sacraments except Orders and Penance (inasmuch as the Priest is the minister, though not the consecrator of the Holy Chrism) has been objected to by many Westerns as a maiming of the prior rite, which is therefore, in their eyes, only a partial ordination. Goar in his note on the passage defends it from this aspersion, and alleges it to be based on the double ordination of the Apostles, first on Maundy Thursday as Sacrificers, and afterwards as holders of the Keys.
Note 30
This is the briefest of three forms for Episcopal consecration given in the Euchology, and therefore probably represents an older rite than either of the others. One of these differs chiefly in the greater elaborateness of its rubrics, while the remaining one contains two very long confessions of faith in the form of paraphrases of the Nicene Creed, to be made by the Bishop-Elect, and also the ceremony of delivering the pastoral staff to him with a charge to feed his flock. This last most closely approximates to that in use in the Russian Church.
Note 31
This ceremony, in the old Ordo Romanus and the Pontifical of Egbert, was not performed by the principal Bishop, but by two of the assistant prelates. The Gospels were also formerly shut when laid on the Bishop-Elect, but the Eastern custom of opening the book has been long since reverted to.
Note 32
It is scarcely necessary to observe that the precatory form of absolution contained in this office is of much earlier date than the declaratory, which does not appear in the rituals till about the fifteenth century. There does not, however, seem to be the least variation in doctrine on this head between the East and West.
Note 33
This curious prayer seems to have a two-fold character. 1. That of specially solemn prayer for the dead, recited by his Confessor in the Liturgy. 2. A distinct remission of any ecclesiastical censures which might interfere with burial &c. The Greek Church, as well as the Roman, disavows the idea of the Power of the Keys extending after death in the way that a cursory inspection of this prayer would seem to suggest.
Note 34
This ceremony is altogether peculiar to the East, and is of rare occurrence. It is political rather than strictly religious in character, and has the effect of exempting any church where it takes place from diocesan jurisdiction, and bringing it directly under the Patriarch himself. A special Brief was the means employed for the same purpose in the West.
Note 35
This office, very much shorter and simpler than the corresponding Western ones, is the composition of S. Tarasius, who, while yet a layman, was raised by the Empress Irene from the post of Secretary of State to that of Patriarch, A. D. 784. He died A. D. 806.
Note 36
The Western office most nearly akin to this which I have seen is, curiously enough, one for the Expiation of a Church which may be found bound up in some old Irish editions of the Book of Common Prayer. My copy is in folio, Dublin 1729. The office has been reprinted in the Appendix of the Directorium Anglicanum.
Note 37
This is only given as a specimen of the many Benedictions and special prayers contained in the Euchology most of which can be abundantly paralleled from Western service-books.
Note 38
It is necessary to say a few words about the Canonical Hours of the Eastern Church before proceeding to deal with the festal offices printed here.
They are nearly the same in order, though not in construction, as those of the West.
They are as follows.
1. Ἑσπερινόν, Vespers.
2. ᾿πόδειπνον, Compline.
3. ΜΜεσονυκτικόν, Matins.
4. Ὄρϑρον, Lauds.
5. Prime.
6. Terce.
7. Sext.
8. None.
After each of these four last there is a μεσώριον or intermediate office.
Those who are conversant with the structure of the Breviary are aware that the frame-work of all the offices is comparatively unchanged under all circumstances, and that the Hours which are most affected by the occurrence of a festival are Vespers, Matins, and Lauds. The same is, in the main, true of the Eastern Offices, and accordingly the Hours here given are the Vespers and Lauds of the three greatest festivals of the year. A detailed account of all the Hours will be found in Neale’s Introduction to the History of the Holy Eastern Church. II. 893—942. I shall content myself with a few notes on the chief difficulties which present themselves in the course of the specimens I have given. The office here given is what in the West would be called the First Vespers of the Feast. The office of Lights (λυχνικόν, λυχνάψια) is the name given to the opening part of Vespers, which, as being fixed and invariable, is here omitted. It consists of a benediction, a prayer for the gifts of the Spirit, one for pardon of sin, the Kyrie Eleison, the Our FATHER with its doxology, and a triple invocation to worship, all broken up by responses from the choir. Then comes the Proœmiac or Prefatory Psalm (civ). Next the Great Collect, after which there is usually a Cathisma (or hymn sung while the congregation sits) and then the stichoi or versicles from the Psalms, which serve as key - notes to the hymns which they accompany. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the reader is referred to the glossary for the meaning of the several ritual terms as they occur, save where some special explanation is necessary.
Note 39
The tones of the Eastern Church are the same as those eight which we call Gregorian, both in number and order. They are somewhat differently named, as below
Latin. ‘Greek. First Gregorian tone ἦχος α΄. Second ,, πλάγιον α΄. Third ,, β΄. Fourth ,, πλάγιον β΄. Fifth ,, γ΄. Sixth ,, βαρύς. Seventh ,, δ΄. Eighth ,, πλάγιον δ΄.
Note 40
This is most probably S. Germanus of Constantinople, who became Patriarch in A. D. 715, and was deprived by the Iconoclast Leo the Isaurian in 730.
Note 41
S. Anatolius was Patriarch of CP. from A. D. 449 to 458.
Note 42
This rubric “Glory. Both now ” implies that the Doxology is said to the end, without a break, such as will be noted somewhat later. The students of the Breviary are aware how often the paragraph “As it was &c.” has dropped out after the Gloria, so that in fact it scarcely ever appears in the responses to the Chapters.
Note 43
The rarity of a woman’s compositions being embodied in the office of the Church would make us expect a detailed account of Casia. But I can learn nothing of her save that one or two other short hymns in the Menæa are attributed to her pen.
Note 44
This is the very ancient Vesper Hymn of the Eastern Church which many will recognize from the version in the “Lyra Apostolica”. The original is as follows: Φῶς ἱλαρὸν ἁγίας δόξης ἀϑανάτου Πατρὸς
οὐρανίου, ἁγίου, μάκαρος,
Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ,
ἐλθόντες ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡλίου δύσιν,
ἰδόντες φῶς ἑσπερινόν,: ὑμνοῦμεν Πατέρα, καὶ Ὑἱὸν, καὶ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα Θεοῦ” ἄξιος πᾶσι καιροῖς ὑμνεῖσϑαι φωναῖς ὁσίαις,
Υἱὲ Θεοῦ, ζωὴν διδούς”
διὸ κόσμος δοξαζξει.
It is, as Dr. Neale observes, the Magnificat of the Eastern Vespers. It is attributed to S. Athenogenes, who was martyred about A. D. 175.
Note 45
The Prokeimenon, except in its position, exactly answers to the Latin Gradual, and is, as appears here, a short anthem recited before the Epistle, and consisting of a verse and response, generally taken from the Psalms, but, unlike the Gradual, rarely consisting of consecutive phrases.
Note 46
The Koinonikon is a stichos sung in the Liturgy a little before the Communion.
Note 47
It is somewhat uncertain who this John the Monk may be. The most probable conjecture is that which identifies him, as well as the writer called S. John Arclas, with the great S. John Damascene, the Doctor of Christian Art, and chief of Greek hymnodists, who died in the last quarter of the eighth century.
Note 48
The customary prayers referred to here consist of a long form of the Ectene, broken up into paragraphs by the recital of the Kyrie by the Choir, after which comes a collect called the “Prayer of inclination of the head” (τῆς κεφαλοκλισίας) and next a system of stichoi or versicles from the Psalms. The hymns which follow these versicles are technically called στιχηρὰ ἀπὸ. στέχου, or, as here, ᾿πόστιχα, ἀποστιχίδες.
Note 49
This ceremony closes the Vespers of the highest class of festivals. Five loaves and a cup of wine are placed on the analogion, and the Priest, taking one, signs it, and recites a prayer, followed by a Psalm, and a benediction.
Note 50
At this point Lauds begin. On a great Vigil like that of Christmas Day, they are said immediately at the close of the Great Vespers, which on such occasions, follow Compline, instead of preceding it. The Little Vespers (an abbreviated form of the Great) are said before Compline.
Note 51
This heading is merely a rhythmical guide, and may in some degree be compared with the manner in which we place the name of some well-known melody at the head of a song meant to be sung to it.
Note 52
A Canon is the fullest exemplification of the system employed by Greek hymnodists. With the occasional exception of Trimeter Iambics, there is no trace of the observance of the laws of metre or quantity in their compositions, which are in rhythmical prose, and regulated by accent alone. The amount of uniformity necessary to satisfy the ear is obtained by selecting one strophe as the syllabic and accentual model of succeeding ones, which answer to it in some degree as antistrophes. This strophe is called the Hirmos (εἱρμός), because it joins together and draws after it the succeeding strophes, which are called troparia, from turning (τρέπω) to their model. Any number of these troparia with their hirmos constitutes an Ode, and nine such Odes form a perfect Canon. A certain confusion exists, however, in the use of the word hirmos. Sometimes it means a strophe quite unconnected with the hymn which is being sung, and in that case is merely quoted by its initial line as a guide to the choir. At other times it is used to denote the first troparion of an ode, and in that case is printed at length. Under all circumstances it is marked in the office-books by inverted commas. The accentuation of the troparia and hirmos is not absolutely identical, for the circumflex is never counted, and there are other minor deviations. The musical notation is further marked by the commas, which have no connection with the grammatical sense, but note the bars and mediations, much as the colon which divides the verses in the Psalter of the Book of Common Prayer. Every Ode ends with a Theotokion, or hymn in honour of the Blessed Virgin, and occasionally we find intercalated other hymns called severally Cathismata, Catabasiai, or Oicoi. A short hymn which is its own model, and not based on any other Hirmos, is called Automelon or Idiomelon, and if (as frequently happens) others resembling it succeed it, they are called Homœa (ὅμοια). Sometimes a system of such hymns is found grouped together, in which case they are collectively called Prosomœa.
Note 53
This peculiarity of acrostichal arrangement is found in the great majority of Canons, and is designed to assist the memory. The idea was, no doubt, derived from the alphabetical Psalms, for a few Canons are actually alphabetical. The earliest example which I remember in what may be called Greek sacred poetry is the famous one in the Sibylline Oracles, Lib. VIII. 217—250. ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΕΙΣΤΟΣ ΘΕΟΥ ΥΙΟΣ ΣΩΤΗΡ ΣΤΑΥ- ΡΟΣ. It is accurately observed, whereas those in the Canons are usually more or less imperfect. The English reader will find a Greek acrostichal hymn reproduced in Dr. Neale’s Introduction to Hist. of Eastern Church. pp. 833. sqq. The use of the acrostich in Latin ecclesiastical poetry is very rare, and designed merely as a piece of ingenuity, without the practical object aimed at by the Greeks. The most curious instance which I recollect is the preface of S. Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherburne († A. D. 709.) to his poem De Laude Virginum. The initial line of this preface runs as follows:
Metrica tirones nunc promant carmina castos.
Down to the last line the hexameters proceed in the usual fashion, but that line itself is only the initial one spelt backwards, by which tour de force the good Bishop, who makes the final letters of each line acrostich as well as the first, contrives to give us in this wise the words Metrica &c. over again on each side of a square. See Canisii Thesaurus Monumentorum, ed. Basnage. Vol. I. p. 713.
Note 54
S. Cosmas the Melodist, Bishop of Maiuma, and second in rank of the Greek Church poets, was fosterbrother of S. John Damascene, and died about A. D. 760.
Note 55
These opening phrases would seem not to be from the pen of S. Cosmas, but to have merely given him the key-note for this Canon. They are part of the exordium of the Sermon on the Nativity by S. Gregory Nazianzen († A. D. 389).
Note 56
It will be observed that the second ode does not appear in its place, but that the third follows immediately after the first. The reason is as follows. The nine Odes are theologically based on the nine Canticles of Lauds. I. The Song of Moses. Exodus XV. 2. The Song of Moses, Deut. XXXIII. 3. The Song of Hannah. 1. Sam. II. 4. The Song of Habakkuk. Hab. III. 5. The Song of Isaiah, XXVI. 9—20. 6. The Song of Jonah. II. 7. The Song of the Three Children. Part I. 3—34. 8. The Song of the Three Children. Part II. Benedicite. 9. Magnificat and Benedictus said together. The second song of Moses, which is said by the Western Church at the Saturday Lauds, is used only in Lent by the Eastern, and consequently a Canon for a festival season has no second ode at all. It is easy to trace the idea of each Canticle running through its corresponding ode, especially in 1, 6, and 7.
Note 57
No adequate explanation can be given of this term. The hymn to which it is applied for the most part occurs after the recitation of Ps. CXIX.
Note 58
S. Romanus, the inventor of Contakia, was a Deacon of the Church of Emesa about A. D. 500. His legend narrates that the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in the Church of Blachernæ and gave him a roll of writing (κοντάκιον) to eat, after which he was endowed with the power of writing these short hymns, still named from the roll. The Contakion usually, as here, precedes the Oicos or Stanza.
Note 59
The Oicos, or Stanza, is a longer Contakion usually in honour of God or of a Saint, and regarded as a house or shrine built for its subject.
Note 60
The allusion is to Isaiah 53. 2. ῥίζα δυφώσῃ.
Note 61
The Synaxarion is an abridged form of the Menology, and contains an account of the festival which is being celebrated. It is usually preceded, as here, by a stichos, consisting of two iambic trimeters followed by a hexameter, and it is invariably followed by the Seventh Ode of the Canon.
Note 62
This is the writer better known as S. Andrew of Crete. He was born in Damascus circ. A. D. 660, became a monk at Jerusalem, whence he went to Constantinople, and was made a Deacon of the Great Church, and appointed Archbishop of Crete A. D. 711, at which time he was a Monothelite, a heresy which he afterwards abandoned. He died circ. A. D. 732. His chief work is the Great Lenten Canon.
Note 63
This is the great hymn known as the Golden Canon or Queen of Canons, the chief poem of S. John Damascene.
Note 64
The Emperor Leo VI. surnamed the Philosopher. He was son of Basil the Macedonian, and reigned from A. D. 886 to 911.