Terms and abbreviations

[Keith Cheesman]

I have been looking at some Orthodox service and prayer books. I need some help in understanding some of the terms and abbreviations. Don't feel you have to tackle all of them to post a reply! ;)

Troparion, Apolytikion, Kontakion, Canon, Akathist - what do these mean and what is the difference between them?

O Heavenly King, Holy God, Glory both now, O Most Holy Trinity, Our Father (I think I can guess this one!), O come let us worship, Trisagion - What are the full prayers these refer to, are there any more of these abbreviations?

[Paul Cowan]

We had a dictionary at one time on the forum, but it didn't seem to make the cut at the last upgrade. I wouldn't mind seeing it return.

<hint hint>

Paul

[D. W. Dickens]

Sometimes it feels like our services are half-translated. :-)

I remember trying to "pray the hours" very early on in my investigation into Orthodoxy. Let's just say there was much cursing. Lord have mercy.

[Alex Haig]

O Heavenly King, Holy God, Glory both now, O Most Holy Trinity, Our Father (I think I can guess this one!), O come let us worship

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art in all places and fillest all things. Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life. Come and abide in us, cleanse us from all impurities, and of Thy goodness, save our souls.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (x3)

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

O All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, blot out our sins. O Master, pardon our iniquities. Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities for Thy name’s sake.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and for ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

[Priest: For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages]

Amen.

O come let us worship God our King.
O come let us worship and fall down before Christ our King and our God.
O Come let us worship and fall down before Christ Himself our King and our God.


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These are fairly standard prayers for the beginning of a service and are used all over. Often in liturgical books they write 'Glory' to mean 'Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit' and 'Both now' to mean 'Both now and ever, and unto ages of ages, Amen'.

I hope this is of some help

In Xp

Alex

[Herman Blaydoe]

I have been looking at some Orthodox service and prayer books. I need some help in understanding some of the terms and abbreviations. Don't feel you have to tackle all of them to post a reply! ;)

Troparion, Apolytikion, Kontakion, Canon, Akathist - what do these mean and what is the difference between them?

O Heavenly King, Holy God, Glory both now, O Most Holy Trinity, Our Father (I think I can guess this one!), O come let us worship, Trisagion - What are the full prayers these refer to, are there any more of these abbreviations?

Troparion: a short poetic hymn referring to the feast of the day. This name applies to the Apolytikion and the stanzas of the canon for the feast. The term "apolytikion" means dismissal hymn and gets its name from its position in the Vespers service. But during the Divine Liturgy it is called the Troparion and is sung after the Little Entrance.

Kontakion: This is a fun one. Literally it means "from a pole". Originally it was a long poem. It seems that the text was written on a scroll and wound up on pole, hence the name. It consisted of a short preliminary stanza and was followed by some 18 to 24 strophes each known as an ikos. The stanza and ikos concluded with the same refrain. Today, all that remains is the stanza, which is now called the Kontakion, followed by the first ikos. These are to be found in the canon of the Matins service, between Odes six and seven. The Kontakion (without the ikos) is also sung at the Divine Liturgy.

Canon: A structured hymn used in a number of Orthodox services. It consists of nine odes, sometimes called canticles or songs depending on the translation, based on compositions (also called odes) found in the Bible, specifically the Old Testament. An ode of the canon is begun by singing the Biblical ode from its beginning. At some point this is interrupted by an introductory stanza called an irmos, "link", which poetically connects it to the subject of the canon. Following the irmos and sung alternately with the subsequent verses of the ode are a series hymns comprising a single stanza each, or troparia, set in the same melody and meter as the irmos, that expand on its theme. The ode is completed with a final stanza called a katavasia, which might be present depending on the service and occasion, and which also varies accordingly. It might be a repetition of the irmos, the irmos of the second canon when more than one canon is being sung together, the irmos of the canon for an upcoming major feast day, or some other verse prescribed by the service books. (Katavasia means "coming down" because originally the two choirs would descend from their places on the left and right sides of the church to sing it together in the middle.)

Akathist: (Greek, akathistos) This is a rather long and involved hymn dedicated to a saint, holy event, or one of the persons of the Holy Trinity. It consists of a form of canon as well as other parts. The word akathist literally means "not sitting."

The Trisogion is the overall name given to the other prayers you are referencing as mentioned in what Alex has posted. I consider the Trisogion to be the "warm up" prayers or perhaps the "stretching" prayers, used like an athlete uses special stretches or exercises before and after the main exercise session to warm up and cool down.

Herman the cantor

[D. W. Dickens]

A couple of weeks ago there was a fairly complicated set of feast/saint/vigil particulars. The choir director had invited me over to join them for the service and asked me, sort of out of the blue (in a sort of "you'll need to get this stuff someday" look in her eye), to read the odes etc. I was so confused, of course she and our Reader basically just told me...

read here, now over here, now in the book, "Glory..." here, no don't say "Now and ever" yet... now "pray unto God for us".. now this part, now back to the book, now this paragraph... now...

I thought I was going to pass out from the stress.

(when I asked why we never do #2, they said they had no idea)

[Herman Blaydoe]

A couple of weeks ago there was a fairly complicated set of feast/saint/vigil particulars. The choir director had invited me over to join them for the service and asked me, sort of out of the blue (in a sort of "you'll need to get this stuff someday" look in her eye), to read the odes etc. I was so confused, of course she and our Reader basically just told me...

read here, now over here, now in the book, "Glory..." here, no don't say "Now and ever" yet... now "pray unto God for us".. now this part, now back to the book, now this paragraph... now...

I thought I was going to pass out from the stress.

(when I asked why we never do #2, they said they had no idea)

The second canon is penitential in nature and is generally only done during Great and Holy Lent, but since most churches don't do Matins or odes to begin with, the second Ode has pretty much fallen out of use altogether.

It is not an official Orthodox service unless the cantor or choir director has at least three different books open at a time...

Herman the harried cantor

[Keith Cheesman]

Thanks guys, your posts have helped a lot. I can almost follow some of this stuff now :)

I think I have come across another: More honourable than the Cherubim.

[Herman Blaydoe]

Thanks guys, your posts have helped a lot. I can almost follow some of this stuff now :)

I think I have come across another: More honourable than the Cherubim.

That is a Theotokion (hymn to the Theotokos).

More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim. Without defilement you gave birth to God the word, True Theotokos, we magnify you!

It is an important part of several services, most notably the Divine Liturgy where it occurs at the end of the Anaphora, which I believe is also called the Consecration.

Herman