Acolouthia ( el, ἀκολουθία, "a following"; cu, последование, posledovanie) in the
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
and
Eastern Catholic churches, signifies the arrangement of the
Divine Services
In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers.
In t ...
(Canonical Hours or Divine Office), perhaps because the parts are closely connected and follow in order. In a more restricted sense, the term "acolouth" refers to the ''fixed'' portion of the Office (which does not change daily). The portions of the Office that are ''variable'' are called the Sequences. While the structure and history of the various forms of the Divine Office in the numerous ancient Christian
rites is exceedingly rich, the following article will restrict itself to the practice as it evolved in the
Eastern Roman
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
(Byzantine) Empire.
The Office is composed of both
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
al and
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
al elements, the first usually given in the musical mode or tone (''
echos''), according to which the
liturgical compositions are chanted. There are eight
musical modes: four primary and four secondary (
plagal). The rhetorical elements are seldom given in a normal speaking voice, but are "read" in a simple
recitative.
As the early chanters rarely used texts set to musical notation, they learned by heart the words and music of some standard
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
, and this served as a model for other hymns of the same rhythm or meter. For example, in a
Canon, the
strophe or
stanza
In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...
of a standard hymn which indicates the
melody
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
of a composition is known as an
irmos The irmos (or heirmos from grc-x-koine, εἱρμός) in the Byzantine liturgical tradition is the initial troparion of an ode of a canon. The meter and melody of an irmos is followed by the remaining troparia of the ode; when more than one canon ...
(eirmos, hirmos). An irmos is placed at the beginning of an Ode to introduce the melody to which it should be chanted, and to tie the theme of the Biblical Canticle on which it is based to the hymns of the Ode that follow (see
Canon). A
katabasia
Katabasia or Katavasia (Greek καταβασία, from καταβαίον, "descend") is a type of hymn, and the last troparion of an ode of a canon, chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byza ...
is the irmos that is sung at the end of an Ode by the
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
(which descend from their seats (
kathismata
A kathisma (Greek: κάθισμα; Slavonic: каѳисма, ''kai-isma''), literally, "seat", is a division of the Psalter, used in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic churches. The word may also describe a hymn sung at Matins, a s ...
) and stand on the floor of the church to sing it). The katabasia winds down the Ode and returns it again to the theme of the Biblical Canticle.
Cycles
The Divine Services are composed of a number of cycles, some large some small, all of which combine to form the services. These cycles are governed by rules prescribed in the
Typicon
A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; gr, , "that of the prescribed form"; Slavonic: Тvпико́нъ ''Typikonə'' or Оуставъ, ''ustavə'') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite off ...
. The basic cycle is the Daily Cycle, which is composed of the Acolouthia (distinct services) into which the Sequences for that day—which are taken from the other cycles—are inserted. The liturgical day begins at sunset, so Vespers is the first service of the day.
Acolouthia
The individual Offices that make up the daily cycle of services are:
Vespers
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...
,
Midnight Office,
Orthros (
Matins
Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning.
The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated by ...
), the four
Little Hours, and
Apodeipnon (Compline). To this could be added the
Typica
The Typica ( Slavonic: ''изобразительныхъ', ''Izobrazítel'nykhə) is a part of the Divine Office of Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches that is appointed to be read on any day the Liturgy is celebrated with vespers, or ...
, which is said on days on which there is no celebration of the
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of C ...
(Eucharist).
Most of the Offices start with the
Usual Beginning
The usual beginning is the series of prayers with which most Divine Services begin in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite.
Normal form
The usual beginning starts with a blessing by the pr ...
(a blessing by the
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
, followed by the
Trisagion
The ''Trisagion'' ( el, Τρισάγιον; 'Thrice Holy'), sometimes called by its opening line ''Agios O Theos'', is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox, Western Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholi ...
and other prayers, ending with the
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
and the call to worship: "O come, let us worship God our King..."), followed by one or several
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
. The
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...
figures prominently in the Divine Services, and are found both in the fixed and the moveable portions of the services. In the descriptions that follow, the
Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
numbering of the Psalms will be used.
Vespers
Vespers is the first office of the day, chanted around the time of sunset, and has three variations: Little Vespers, Great Vespers, and daily Vespers. This is the service that introduces the feast being celebrated that day. Since the day begins at sunset, Vespers for Sunday is celebrate on Saturday evening, etc. At an
All-Night Vigil The All-night vigil is a service of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches consisting of an aggregation of the canonical hours of Compline (in Greek usage only), Vespers (or, on a few occasions, Great Compline), Matins, and the First H ...
Great Vespers is combined with Matins and First Hour to form one continuous service. In the Greek practice, a Vigil is only performed for one of the
Great Feasts of the church year; the Slavs will also perform the Vigil on every Saturday evening.
Little Vespers
Little Vespers is chanted only before an All-Night Vigil. It is a very abbreviated forma and consist of the Usual Beginning, after which the
Reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
says Psalm 103 while the priest silently reads the Prayers of Lamplighting (''Lychnic''). This is followed by the Great
Ektenia (Litany). Then the choir chants "Lord, I have cried" (Psalms 140, 141, 129, and 116) with four
stichera interposed between the last few verses. Then the
Phos Hilaron
''Phos Hilaron'' ( grc-x-koine, , translit=''Fόs Ilarόn'') is an ancient Christian hymn originally written in Koine Greek. Often referred to in the Western Church by its Latin title ''Lumen Hilare'', it has been translated into English as ''O Gl ...
(a short hymn, praising God at the time of sunset), the
prokeimenon
In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church and Byzantine Rite, a prokeimenon (Greek , plural ; sometimes /; lit. 'that which precedes') is a psalm or canticle refrain sung responsorially at certain specified points of the Divine Liturgy or ...
, the
aposticha
The Aposticha ( el, Άπόστιχα'; Slavonic: ''stikhíry na stikhóvne'') are a set of hymns (''stichera'') accompanied by psalm verses ('' stichos'') that are chanted towards the end of Vespers and Matins in the Eastern Orthodox Church and t ...
, the
Nunc dimittis
The Nunc dimittis (), also known as the Song of Simeon or the Canticle of Simeon, is a canticle taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 29 through 32. Its Latin name comes from its incipit, the opening words, of the Vulgate t ...
, the
trisagion
The ''Trisagion'' ( el, Τρισάγιον; 'Thrice Holy'), sometimes called by its opening line ''Agios O Theos'', is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox, Western Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholi ...
, and the
apolytikion
The Apolytikion () or Dismissal Hymn is a troparion (a short hymn of one stanza) said or sung at Orthodox Christian worship services. The apolytikion summarizes the feast being celebrated that day. It is chanted at Vespers, Matins and the Divin ...
.
Great Vespers
Great Vespers is celebrated on Sundays and feast days, either separately or as part of the All-Night Vigil. It starts with a blessing by the priest and the "Usual Beginning" (unless it is a Vigil, in which case the blessing is different and the Usual Beginning is abbreviated). It is an All-Night Vigil, the priest and deacon perform a full censing of the church. The chanters sing
Psalm 103
Psalm 103 is the 103rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Bless the , O my soul". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. In Latin ...
(either in its entirety or a selection of verses), while the priest comes to stand on the
ambon
Ambon may refer to:
Places
* Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia
** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province
** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796
* Ambon, Morbihan, a co ...
in front of the
Holy Doors to recite the "Prayers of Lamp-lighting", after which he goes back inside the sanctuary. Then the deacon comes out onto the ambon and leads the Great Ektenia. Choir chants the first
kathisma
A kathisma (Greek: κάθισμα; Slavonic: каѳисма, ''kai-isma''), literally, "seat", is a division of the Psalter, used in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic churches. The word may also describe a hymn sung at Matins, a sea ...
(a division of the psalter), broken up into three sections, called ''stases''. After each section the deacon leads a
Little Ektenia
An ektenia (from el, ἐκτενής , translit=ektenés; literally, "diligence"), often called by the better known English word litany, consists of a series of petitions occurring in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic liturgies. The pr ...
(on Feast Days which do not fall on Sunday only the first stasis and its ektenia is performed). Then the chanters begin "Lord, I Have Cried" with eight stichera (ten on Sundays), while the
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
performs a
censing
A thurible (via Old French from Medieval Latin ) is a metal censer suspended from chains, in which incense is burned during worship services. It is used in Christian churches including the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Assyrian Church of t ...
of the entire church. After putting on his
phelonion, the priest says the Prayer of the Entrance, and he and the deacon go out the side door of the
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...
to make the
Little Entrance with the censer. After the
prokeimenon
In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church and Byzantine Rite, a prokeimenon (Greek , plural ; sometimes /; lit. 'that which precedes') is a psalm or canticle refrain sung responsorially at certain specified points of the Divine Liturgy or ...
(and, on feast days, readings from the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
) the deacon recites the ektenias, and the priest says a prayer while all reverently bow their heads. Then all go in procession to the
narthex
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...
of the church while the choir chants stichera
proper to the feast. There the deacon recites the
Litiy (an ektenia, invoking the names of many saints, to which the choir answers ''
Kyrie Eleison'' many times). Then, if it is a Vigil, the priest blesses loaves of bread, wheat, wine and oil. These will be used for the refreshment and blessing of those attending the vigil. Next the aposticha (stichera proper to the feast) are chanted by the choir followed by the Nunc Dimittis, the trisagion prayers, the Lord's Prayer, the apolytikion (hymn of the Feast), and the dismissal by the Priest.
Daily Vespers
Vespers, as it is celebrated on ordinary weekdays (i.e., Sunday night through Friday night when there is no occurrence of a
Great Feast
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of all holy days and as such it is called the "feast of feasts". Immediately below it in importance, there is a group of Twelve Great Fe ...
or major
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
) is very much the same as Great Vespers, but minus some of the more festal aspects. The deacon does not normally serve at daily Vespers, but all of his parts will be done by the priest. After the opening blessing and Psalm 103, the priest recites Great Ektenia. The reader then recites a kathisma (except on Sunday night or any night following an
All-Night Vigil The All-night vigil is a service of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches consisting of an aggregation of the canonical hours of Compline (in Greek usage only), Vespers (or, on a few occasions, Great Compline), Matins, and the First H ...
). After the Little Ektenia the chanters begin "Lord, I Have Cried" with six or eight stichera, while the priest performs the
censing
A thurible (via Old French from Medieval Latin ) is a metal censer suspended from chains, in which incense is burned during worship services. It is used in Christian churches including the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Assyrian Church of t ...
. There is no Little Entrance and there are no readings from Scripture. Rather, after the conclusion of the
Theotokion at the end of "Lord I Have Cried", the priest leads the prokeimenon, and the priest says the first of the two litanies, the reader recites the prayer "Vouchsafe, O Lord..." and the priest says the second litany and the prayer at the "Bowing of Heads". Next the
Aposticha
The Aposticha ( el, Άπόστιχα'; Slavonic: ''stikhíry na stikhóvne'') are a set of hymns (''stichera'') accompanied by psalm verses ('' stichos'') that are chanted towards the end of Vespers and Matins in the Eastern Orthodox Church and t ...
are chanted by the choir followed by the
Nunc Dimittis
The Nunc dimittis (), also known as the Song of Simeon or the Canticle of Simeon, is a canticle taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 29 through 32. Its Latin name comes from its incipit, the opening words, of the Vulgate t ...
, the
trisagion
The ''Trisagion'' ( el, Τρισάγιον; 'Thrice Holy'), sometimes called by its opening line ''Agios O Theos'', is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox, Western Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholi ...
(a prayer to the Trinity), the
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
, the
apolytikion
The Apolytikion () or Dismissal Hymn is a troparion (a short hymn of one stanza) said or sung at Orthodox Christian worship services. The apolytikion summarizes the feast being celebrated that day. It is chanted at Vespers, Matins and the Divin ...
(hymn of the day), concluding with the
dismissal
Dismissal or dismissed may refer to:
Dismissal
*In litigation, a dismissal is the result of a successful ''motion to dismiss''. See motion
*Termination of employment, the end of employee's duration with an employer
**Dismissal (employment), ter ...
by the priest.
Compline
Compline
Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times.
The English wo ...
(Greek: ''Apodeipnon'', Slavonic: ''Povochernia'') is the last Office of the waking day, and is served in two different manners: Little Compline and Great Compline.
Great Compline is said during the Lenten seasons and on the eves of certain
Great Feasts. Great Compline is much longer than Little Compline and has a much more penitential theme to it, including numerous
prostrations
Prostration is the gesture of placing one's body in a reverentially or submissively prone position. Typically prostration is distinguished from the lesser acts of bowing or kneeling by involving a part of the body above the knee, especially t ...
.
Little Compline is read any time Great Compline is not called for. It is composed of psalms, a doxology, troparion, the trisagion, the Lord's Prayer, the Kyrie Eleison repeated twelve times, and invitatory versicles, and Psalms 50, 69, and 162, which are followed by the greater doxology, the Creed, the trisagion, the Lord's Prayer, the troparion proper to the feast, the Kyrie Eleison repeated forty times, several invocations, and the long prayers of dismissal.
Midnight Office
The Midnight Office is normally celebrated only in
monasteries, except for the
Paschal Vigil when it has a unique structure followed only on that day. Throughout the year, there are three different forms of the Midnight Office: Saturday, Sunday, and Weekday.
Matins
The first part of Orthros, consists of twelve prayers read by the priest in front of the
Holy Doors while the reader reads the Six Psalms, the greater litany, two stichera followed by Psalms 134 and 135, a third sticheron followed by the
gradual psalms
Song of Ascents is a title given to fifteen of the Psalms, 120–134 (119–133 in the Septuagint and the Vulgate), each starting with the superscription Shir Hama'aloth ( ''šîr ha-ma‘ălōṯ'', meaning "Song of the Ascents"), or, in the cas ...
, an antiphon with the prokeimenon, the reading of the Gospel, many acclamations and the Canon, while the second part of the Orthros, corresponding to Lauds in the Roman Office, is composed of Psalms 148, 149, 150, several similar stichera, the greater
doxology, a
benediction, and the
dismissal
Dismissal or dismissed may refer to:
Dismissal
*In litigation, a dismissal is the result of a successful ''motion to dismiss''. See motion
*Termination of employment, the end of employee's duration with an employer
**Dismissal (employment), ter ...
.
Each of the Little Hours may followed by a supplementary hour, called an Inter-Hour (''
Mesorion'') during certain seasons of the year. The
First Hour
Prime, or the First Hour, is one of the canonical hours of the Divine Office, said at the first hour of daylight (6:00 a.m. at the equinoxes but earlier in summer, later in winter), between the dawn hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. hour of Terce. ...
(Prime) begins with the recitation of three psalms followed by a doxology, two stichoi, a doxology, a troparion in honour of the
Theotokos
''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...
, the trisagion, several variable troparia, the doxology and dismissal, while its supplementary Hour is composed of a troparion, doxology,
Theotokion,
Kyrie Eleison repeated forty times, a prayer, and a doxology. The
Third Hour
Terce is a canonical hour of the Divine Office. It consists mainly of psalms and is held around 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn. With Sext, None and Compline it belongs to the so-called "Little ...
(Terce), the
Sixth Hour
Sext, or Sixth Hour, is a canonical hour of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is held around noon. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the sixth hour of the day after dawn. W ...
(Sext), and the
Ninth Hour (None) and their Inter-Hours each follow the same basic outline as the First Hour.
Before or after the Ninth Hour (depending upon the liturgical season), an office called the
Typica
The Typica ( Slavonic: ''изобразительныхъ', ''Izobrazítel'nykhə) is a part of the Divine Office of Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches that is appointed to be read on any day the Liturgy is celebrated with vespers, or ...
is recited. The Typica is only chanted on days when the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated, and consists of many of the psalms and hymns that would have been chanted had the Liturgy been celebrated. Ordinarily this consists of Psalm 102, Psalm 145, and the Beatitudes, followed by prayers and hymns. But in the seasons of fasting this Office is regulated by different rubrics.
Sequences
The Sequences supply for all the Acolouths of the Daily Cycle the material required for a particular Remembrance — that is to say, the material
proper to a particular day of the week, a particular date of the year, a particular day in the liturgical seasons (for instance, during
Great Lent
Great Lent, or the Great Fast, (Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, meaning "Great 40 Days," and "Great Fast," respectively) is the most important fasting season of the church year within many denominat ...
or the period between
Pascha (Easter) and
Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...
). These sequences can be referred to as cycles.
The fundamental element of the Sequence is the
troparion, which is a short hymn, or one of the stanzas of a hymn. The
kontakion
The kontakion (Greek , plural , ''kontakia'') is a form of hymn performed in the Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic liturgical traditions.
The kontakion originated in the Byzantine Empire around the 6th century and is closely associated with Sain ...
is a troparion which explains briefly the character of the feast celebrated in the day's Office. The
oikos is a somewhat longer troparion, which follows after the kontakion and in concise style glorifies the virtues and merits of the subject of the feast which were treated in the kontakion. The
apolytikion
The Apolytikion () or Dismissal Hymn is a troparion (a short hymn of one stanza) said or sung at Orthodox Christian worship services. The apolytikion summarizes the feast being celebrated that day. It is chanted at Vespers, Matins and the Divin ...
is a troparion which is proper to the day, and is said just before the dismissal.
The ode was originally one of the nine inspired canticles sung in the morning Office, but later the name was also given to compositions consisting of a varying number of poetical troparia and modelled after the Scriptural odes. Such odes are often combined to form a
canon (kanon) which is usually composed of nine, but sometimes of a smaller number of odes. Finally, the
stichos is a short verse taken from the Psalms or some other book of Holy Scripture, while the
sticheron
A sticheron (Greek: "set in verses"; plural: stichera; Greek: ) is a hymn of a particular genre sung during the daily evening (Hesperinos/Vespers) and morning (Orthros) offices, and some other services, of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Cath ...
is a short verse of ecclesiastical composition modelled after the stichos.
See also
*
Canonical hours
In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers.
In ...
External links
Method for Full Description of Akolouthiesdeveloped for
Philotheou Monastery on
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
;Attribution
{{Catholic, wstitle=Acolouthia
Liturgy of the Hours
Eastern Christian liturgy