Paschal matins

[Michael Astley]

I wonder whether the good denizens of monachos.net will suffer me yet another question.

My first services in an Orthodox church were over the Pascha weekend. I thoroughly loved them and was very moved by the outdoor procession of light at the beginning of paschal matins. Among other things, there were a Gospel reading outdoors and a duologue between the priest and the then reader of some of the verses of psalm 23:


Priest: Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in.
Reader: Who is this King of Glory?
Priest: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in war. Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall enter in.
Reader; Who is this King of Glory?
Priest: The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory.

This has become my parish and we have done this every year, both the Gospel reading, (I forget which, but not the John 1 reading from the Liturgy), and the exchange of psalm verses. The latter, done before the sealed doors, was explained to me as being symbolic of Christ trampling the doors of hades which had held the dead captive. We see this in the icon of Christ harrowing hades. The psalm is given the fullness of its meaning in this context, as the doors of hades are commanded to be opened for the King of Glory, strong and mighty, Who has conquered death by death. The doors are then flung open and the people pass through them in joyful song, proclaiming the bestowing of life on those in the tombs. I find this very beautiful.

So far, so good.

In my preparation for my tonsuring, I began to acquire more of the liturgical books and get myself better acquainted with our services. I now have the music for Pascha from the St John of Kronstadt Press, which contains the full text of the service. I also have The Order of Divine Services from the same source, and have found this (http://web.archive.org/web/20060204001053/http://www.sspeterpaul.org/pmatins.htm). in light of the approaching Feast of feasts, I have begun to better acquaint myself with the paschal services and, in none of the resources that I have is there any mention of either the Gospel reading or the verses from psalm 24.

The structure seems to be simply the procession of light with Thy Resurrection, O Christ our Saviour, the censing of the doors and people, the verses Let God arise, and so forth, and the entry into church.

Are there variations in practice at this point in the paschal services, including others about which I may not know? I must say that, having seen the form in the resources I have, I far prefer the practice that I know from my parish. I could now not imagine Pascha without Lift up your gates... and the King of glory shall enter in.

I look forward to learning more.

In Christ,
Michael

[Anthony Stokes]

Are there variations in practice at this point in the paschal services, including others about which I may not know? I must say that, having seen the form in the resources I have, I far prefer the practice that I know from my parish. I could now not imagine Pascha without Lift up your gates... and the King of glory shall enter in.
l

Yes, there are variations. The Gospel reading that is done is Mark 16:1-8. From looking at the service books, it appears to be a Greek practice, although I have seen it done at every church I've attended for Pascha (both Greek and OCA).

The Psalm 24 dialogue, I've been told, is a Carpatho-Russian practice. It's not part of the service per-se, but a local custom of some churches. I think that other traditions probably claim it as well, not just the Carpatho-Russians.

Another variation is that the Greek churches begin the service with "Come receive the light..." and then sing "The Angels in heaven..."

Sbdn. Anthony

[Olga]

The reading of the Gospel outdoors and the "Come, receive the light (Dhefte, lavete fos)" is a Greek practice, not a Slavic one, which is why it does not appear in the liturgical materials from St John of Kronstadt Press and other Slavic sources.

There are also other variations in the Resurrectional services between Greek and Russian/Slavic practice, I'll try to provide some of these in my next post.

[Mary Ann H.]

Michael, Your description of the joyous Easter matins in your church sounds exactly like the Resurrection services I have experienced in my Romanian parish. We also wait outside the closed door of the church while the priest reads the Gospel. Then we light our candles from his, and then he bangs on the door and the dialog from psalm 23 takes place, with someone who has stayed inside asking "Who is this king of glory?" After which we all push into the church singing the Easter troparion. So it looks as if the Romanians have this in common with the Russians - or is it the Greeks?
Mary Ann




.


I wonder whether the good denizens of monachos.net will suffer me yet another question.

My first services in an Orthodox church were over the Pascha weekend. I thoroughly loved them and was very moved by the outdoor procession of light at the beginning of paschal matins. Among other things, there were a Gospel reading outdoors and a duologue between the priest and the then reader of some of the verses of psalm 23:



This has become my parish and we have done this every year, both the Gospel reading, (I forget which, but not the John 1 reading from the Liturgy), and the exchange of psalm verses. The latter, done before the sealed doors, was explained to me as being symbolic of Christ trampling the doors of hades which had held the dead captive. We see this in the icon of Christ harrowing hades. The psalm is given the fullness of its meaning in this context, as the doors of hades are commanded to be opened for the King of Glory, strong and mighty, Who has conquered death by death. The doors are then flung open and the people pass through them in joyful song, proclaiming the bestowing of life on those in the tombs. I find this very beautiful.


Michael

[Michael Astley]

Aha! Thank you, all.

Yes, we did the Come, receive the Light for the first time last year. There are a few Greek customs that we adhere to at our parish because of our history. Because I have never been to Pascha anywhere else, I wasn't aware that these customs were not general Russian practice, (something I find rather unfortunate, as they really are quite beautiful). I'm so grateful to you all for sharing something of the different traditions. It has helped me to find some clarity.

Are the differences later developments in the Greek tradition or are they omissions in the Russian tradition?

Thank you.

In Christ,
Michael

[Paul Cowan]

For Antiochians, we turn off all lights at one point, and Fr. has the Paschal Candle from the altar from which all other candles are lit one by one. We then process outside and as above someone stays inside for the questions after Fr. bangs on the door. It very much brings the gospel to life when you act it out. Once the doors are thrown open, those inside turn on all the lights and start swinging all the chandeliers as the people file in.
Paul

[Anthony Stokes]

For Antiochians, we turn off all lights at one point, and Fr. has the Paschal Candle from the altar from which all other candles are lit one by one. We then process outside and as above someone stays inside for the questions after Fr. bangs on the door. It very much brings the gospel to life when you act it out. Once the doors are thrown open, those inside turn on all the lights and start swinging all the chandeliers as the people file in.
Paul


Another difference between the Greek/Slavic practice is the candle that the priest carries. The Russian's use a little hand cross with 3 candles in it, while the Greeks carry one very large candle, similar to what a Russian deacon would use during a Vigil. The Greek candles are usually made specific each year, with the year written on them. I have one or two that my priest gave me when I was a kid.

I believe the lights going out is part of everyone's practice. It is interesting to note, that Pascha is the only time of year that I've seen some Greek churches use a curtain on the Royal Doors, only to tear it down when the matins begins.

Sbdn. Anthony

[Michael Astley]

Another difference between the Greek/Slavic practice is the candle that the priest carries. The Russian's use a little hand cross with 3 candles in it, while the Greeks carry one very large candle, similar to what a Russian deacon would use during a Vigil. The Greek candles are usually made specific each year, with the year written on them. I have one or two that my priest gave me when I was a kid.

I believe the lights going out is part of everyone's practice. It is interesting to note, that Pascha is the only time of year that I've seen some Greek churches use a curtain on the Royal Doors, only to tear it down when the matins begins.

Sbdn. Anthony

That's interesting, Subdeacon Anthony. I see some parallels with the Western Rite. The service of light at the Western Rite Paschal Vigil has a single large candle (at one point in history, over 30 feet in height), into which are insribed the Cross, the digits of the current year of the Lord, the letters Alpha and Omega, and five grains of incense are inserted, symbolising the five wounds of Christ, now fragrant and glorious in light of the Resurrection. This candle is not carried but is in situ, and the light is carried to this candle from a blessed bonfire outside. Originally, in pre-schism times, the light was carried in procession from the fire to the large candle by a simple taper, carried by an acolyte. Later, for practical reasons, a second taper was added to the candlestick so that, if one went out, the candle could still be lit from the second. After the schism, by the late mediaeval period, this had developed into a triple candlestick, only dissimilar from the Russian triple candle in that it was on a long candlestick rather than a hand-held Cross.

I just thought I'd share that for interest's sake.

In Christ,
Michael