Determining the variable portions of the liturgy

[Shawn Lazar]

Hello,

Can anyone tell me how to determine the variable portions of the Divine Liturgy? For instance, how do I know which verses to chant during the Beatitudes, or Troparia or Kontakia, or Prokimenons and Alleluias during the Scripture readings?

I'm aware of at least one website that simply tells you what to read (http://www.saintjonah.org/lit), but I'd like to know how to figure these things out for myself.

Is there a book or article I can read?

[Michael Astley]

Dear Shawn,

The best book by far that I have encountered is The Order of Divine Services, published by the St John of Kronstadt Press. What determines the number and order of the stikhera at Vespers, as well as the troparia at the end, plus the troparia on the Beatitudes at the Liturgy, the order of the troparia, prokimen, Alleluia, Epistle and Gospel readings, the Communion verses, and so forth is the number and respective rank of the observances that happen to fall on that particular day. Some of them are also affected by the day of the week, and may be influenced by the season in which they fall. It can get very complicated for the person responsible for compiling the services.

You pick up a number of the rules after a while but The Order of Divine Services does tell you what they are and how they work. However, it does rely on some degree of prior knowledge so you may need a guide to help you at first. There are Yahoo groups where people talk about these things, asking about things and explaining them. Here (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/typikon/) is one. The Order of Divine Services s going through something of a revision to produce a third edition in three volumes. The third voloume of this third edition is available and contains the details of how to put the services together for each day of the Churcch's solar calendar, with notes on adjustments to make in the different possibilities of collisions with the observances of the lunar calendar or other moveable observances. It is a great help.

The thing to remember is not to get flustered about this. It takes monasteries years to learn how to do this and they perform many of the services every day. Take baby steps and learn gradually, and don't be afraid to ask for help.

In Christ,
Michael

[Anthony Stokes]

In addition to Rdr. Michael's comments on the Fekula/Williams books, the actual services themselves would be the place to go. The Menaion, Triodion, Pentecostarion, and Octoechos tell you what to use for certain days. The Order of Divine Services then tells you what goes where. If you read Slavonic or Greek, then you could go straight to the Typicon, if you could find one. Most of the jurisdictions in the U.S. also publish a yearly liturgical calendar that has everything in it for that specific year. I use the Order of Divine Services for putting our services together, along with the actual services themselves if need be.

Sbdn. Anthony