A Doxastikon (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Δοξαστικόν "Glory sticheron")—plural: ''doxastika''— is a type of hymn found in 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 ...

of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

and those

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...

which follow the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...

. Specifically, a doxastikon is a

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 ...

which is chanted after or between: * Δόξα

"Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit."

and * Καὶ νῦν

"Both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."

Position in services

Doxastika are normally found near the end of a series of stichera. Doxastika may be found at

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 ...

Κύριε, ἐκέκραξα πρὸς σέ ("Lord, I Have Cried", Ps. 140.1 and 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 ...

), at

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 ...

(

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 ...

hymns, Aposticha,

Lauds Lauds is a canonical hour of the Divine office. In the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours it is one of the major hours, usually held after Matins, in the early morning hours. Name The name is derived from the three last psalms of the psalter (148, ...

), and at 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 ...

(the

Beatitudes The Beatitudes are sayings attributed to Jesus, and in particular eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirr ...

). There are other instances when a hymn is found between "Glory..." and "Both now..." (i.e.,

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 ...

, the

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

); however, these hymns are

troparia A troparion (Greek , plural: , ; Georgian: , ; Church Slavonic: , ) in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or organised in more complex forms as series of stanzas. The wi ...

rather than

stichera 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 ...

, and so are not referred to as doxasticha.

Subject matter

The subject matter of the doxastikon can be either the glorification of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

(in which case it is known as a '' Triadikon''), or honouring the saint of the day. Feasts 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 " ...

(Virgin Mary) often do not have doxastika, since she is honoured during the

Theotokion A Theotokion (; pl. ) is a hymn to Mary the Theotokos (), which is read or chanted (troparion or sticheron) during the canonical hours and Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the praises of the Orie ...

, which is the sticheron which follows "Both now and ever...". Feasts of the Lord will often have neither a Doxastikon nor a Theotokion, the latter being replaced by a verse in honor of the feast. Lower-ranking feasts of saints do not usually have doxastika, though some do. Doxastika are always intended to be chanted in one of the eight liturgical modes, or a variation on the modes, known as an ''automelon''.

References

Genres of Byzantine music Eastern Christian hymns Liturgy of the Hours {{EasternCatholic-stub

Position in services

Subject matter

See also

References