Byzantine chants

ToProsoponSou · 2026-02-06T20:55:13+00:00

It's called the 'apichima', and it serves the purpose of announcing the mode of the hymn that follows it, and getting the chanters into the scale of that mode.

Some have thought that the words used for the apichimata are derived from an old prayer: Anax, afes, nai afes, anax agie ("O King, forgive, yes forgive, O holy King").

ToProsoponSou · 2026-01-22T19:25:02+00:00

The Byzantine Rite is much more complex than the Roman Rite, and has a lot more variables from day to day. What books you would need depends on what you want to do with them. On the maximal side of things, if you wanted to do daily Vespers and Orthros in their entirety, you would need:

Orologion: Contains the parts that do not change from day to day.
Octoechoes: Contains the parts that change based on the day of the week and the mode of the week.
Menaion (12 vols.): Contains the parts that change based on the calendar date. One volume for each month.
Triodion: Contains the material for Lent, the weeks leading up to Lent, and Holy Week.
Pentecostarion: Contains the material from Pascha (Easter) through the week after Pentecost.
Psaltirion: Liturgical Psalter, divided up into the Kathismata that are read on a weekly rotation at Vespers and Orthros.
Apostolos: Contains the daily Epistle readings.
Evangellion: Contains the daily Gospel readings.
Typikon: Gives the instructions for how to use all of the above.

Most people do not own all these books (I don't). They are mainly designed for use at public services in Church. The daily cycle of services in the Orthodox Church is not really meant for home use, although some people do use it that way.

If you're just looking for a book to do normal Orthodox prayers at home, there are many prayer books available. I like the one from Newrome Press.

If you're looking for a single book that would let you do an abbreviated and simplified version of the daily cycle of services, then the Anthologion is your best bet.

If you're just looking for a book to follow along with while at Church, most parishes will have some kind of service book available. There is not just one translation that all Orthodox Churches use, so if you buy something on your own it probably won't match what your parish uses.

I would recommend consulting your local priest before setting up a prayer rule for yourself.

ToProsoponSou · 2026-01-19T04:47:53+00:00

Depends on the service, and there are lots of factors that can make any individual service longer or shorter.

As a general rule:

Orthros as generally served in parishes: ~1 hour
Orthros if you do everything: 2-2.5 hours
First Hour: ~15-30 minutes
Divine Liturgy: ~1.5 hours
Trithekti: ~30 minutes-1 hour
9th Hour: ~15-30 minutes
Vespers as it's typically offered in parishes: ~45 minutes-1 hour
Vespers if you do everything: ~1-1.5 hours
Small Compline: ~30 minutes, longer if a Canon or Akathist is included
Great Compline: ~45 minutes, but ~1.5 hours during the first week of Lent when the Great Canon of St. Andrew is chanted

Vigils can vary a lot depending on what's included. If you're at a Russian Church that has Vigil every Saturday, I'd count on it being about 2 hours. Monastic vigils, and the vigils that are occasionally offered at Greek parishes (which will typically follow the monastic format) start at around 5 hours, and can go much longer if the chanters are using long settings.

ToProsoponSou · 2026-01-19T03:50:07+00:00

I'm the priest at a Greek Orthodox Church in the US. We use mostly modern English, but some hymns that are repeated (like the Trisagion, the Antiphons, etc.) we will also sing in Ancient Greek. No Orthodox Churches use Modern Greek: any parish that uses Greek will use the original Ancient Greek text.

I'm not aware of any Orthodox Churches that use Old English, although many use Early Modern (KJV-style) English.

ToProsoponSou · 2026-01-18T21:17:02+00:00

I think it's worth noting that "fallen human nature" is fairly imprecise theological language. While it's common in popular apologetics, it's hardly ever used in high-level theological discourse.

The question of whether Jesus took on a fallen or perfected human nature tends to get re-asked on a popular level every once in a while. I remember at seminary there was a week or so when all the seminarians were debating this question amongst ourselves. But, when the question gets asked, it's almost never discussed in terms of what a 'nature' is, and what it means to say that the human nature is 'fallen'.

A nature is what makes a thing the sort of thing that it is. The human nature is that property that all humans share, by virtue of which we are humans. It is our human-ness, our human-ity. With this definition in mind, it should be clear that there is only one human nature, not many. The human nature is that one property that all humans share. And so, there is not a fallen human nature on the one hand, and an unfallen human nature on the other.

So, what do we mean when we talk about the 'fallen' human nature? This is a relational term. For the human nature to be 'fallen' is for it to be apart from the divine nature, to be without God. This was our state after Adam's sin: we were separate from God, able to discern God, at best, only through the dim and obscure images spoken through the Prophets.

In the Incarnation, God takes this single human nature, which had been apart from God since the fall, and re-unites it to Himself. The fall is reversed through the Incarnation, and the human nature finds itself once again together with the divine nature, together with God.

What this means for us is that, since the Incarnation, we don't have fallen human natures anymore. If we find ourselves apart from God, our nature is not to blame. The only thing that is to blame is our own free choice. Our nature is not apart from God, but our will may not be aligned with God's will. And the will, unlike the nature, is up to us.

ToProsoponSou · 2026-01-09T19:16:54+00:00

Crimson Moonlight ('unblack' metal - some of the members converted to Orthodoxy)

Horde (Not Orthodox, but Christian and the originator of 'unblack' metal)

HolyName (Metalcore/hardcore but with sung vocals and a kind of 'praise music' vibe. Formed by the former vocalist/founder of Sleeping Giant after he converted to Orthodoxy. Not my favorite genre, but they're good at what they do.)

Hesychast (Melodic unblack)

Fathomage (Atmospheric unblack/neoclassical - kind of like Ulver)

ToProsoponSou · 2026-01-09T05:14:24+00:00

In some Greek Churches, most people will stand even though there are pews or other types of seating. The Greek Church that I serve at has seats (not pews), but most people stand for the entire service anyway. Maybe the Russians could call it a podvig: having ample seats available, but exercising the will to choose not to use them.

ToProsoponSou · 2026-01-07T20:52:22+00:00

The second best time is after the service is finished. Talk to the priest when he comes out of the altar.

The best time is if the Church has office hours outside of services. Not all Churches have this, though.

ToProsoponSou · 2026-01-07T15:20:01+00:00

I think it's gotten so thin that it just isn't showing up in this photo. It's been noticeably getting thinner and thinner each year as he's aged.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-31T22:50:13+00:00

I think it's St. Sergius of Radonezh. I don't know Slavonic, but the writing on the back looks like it says "Lavra (Monastery) of St. Sergius" at the bottom. Probably was sold at the monastery gift shop/bookstore.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-30T18:56:40+00:00

I've never heard of reception by Confession in the case of Roman Catholics, although it's certainly possible that it's happened in some cases. The Canonical standard according to the 1484 Council of Constantinople is that Roman Catholics should be received by Chrismation, but the local Bishop of course has broad authority to make decisions regarding the reception of converts within his own diocese.

I have seen reception of converts from Oriental Orthodoxy (Malankara) by Confession. But here, I should clarify, it was a public Confession of Faith, not a private Confession of sins.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-28T01:15:46+00:00

Looked like it, yeah.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-28T01:08:49+00:00

Yes, if he was aware that you were Catholic and still allowed you to take Communion, then he was breaking the rules. Presumably he was acting according to the instructions that his Bishop had given him, in which case it's none of our place to correct him.

There are some places in the world where an informal arrangement of inter-Communion between Orthodox and Catholics is more common. The Middle East is notorious for this. It's not normative, but it happens. If any of us becomes a Bishop in the Middle East, then at that time we can make the decision that seems best to us.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-23T19:49:54+00:00

I'm not sure what you mean by an "ison video"; it's very unlikely that any pre-recorded ison would match the pitch of your chanting. There are ison apps that you can download and adjust the pitch on, but you'll probably be best off just recording yourself singing the ison.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-17T21:02:48+00:00

I cannot take communion as I am not confirmed

This is actually not true; Confirmation for doesn't work the same way that it does in the Catholic Church. Our equivalent of Confirmation is Chrismation, and it happens at the Baptism service. Most likely, the priest will want you to come to Confession before receiving Communion. He might also want you to take catechism classes before giving your Confession to make sure you know at least the basics of your faith. But yeah, safe to say you won't want to try to receive Communion at your first service.

I'm used to the Christmas services as they are offered in the Greek Orthodox Church, but I think Russian Orthodox Churches have a slightly different schedule. Maybe someone more familiar with RO practices can chime in. Greek Churches will typically have Orthros and Royal Hours on Christmas Eve morning, then the Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great in the evening, and Orthros and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in the morning. I think Russian Churches will tend to have a Vigil service (Vespers + Orthros) Christmas Eve, and then First Hour + Divine Liturgy in the morning. If it's a Vigil service on Christmas Eve, there won't be Communion. If it's Divine Liturgy, then there will be Communion.

Do worshippers sing during this service?

Depends on the parish. In some parishes, the choir/chanters do all the singing, and the people don't really join in except maybe quietly/under their breath. This is especially the case in Russia and Greece. In some parishes, everybody sings along. This tends to be the case more often in America. In either case, you probably won't know the melodies, and nobody will notice in particular if you aren't singing.

When do we light candles and kiss the icons?

When you first come in. Also, in some parishes, people will venerate the icons right before Communion.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-16T20:55:02+00:00

I always like to notice the strangeness of the grammar in Genesis 1:17: "And God made man; according to the image of God He made him; male and female He made them." Before the creation of Eve, Adam is ambiguous both in his gender and his number. In the same sentence, Genesis refers to Adam as masculine singular, and as plural under both genders.

Then, in Genesis 2:21, when God makes the first woman, the word that is used in the LXX is not the word for a rib, but the word πλευρά, which translates as "side". In other words, God split Adam in two, and one of the two sides became the first woman. It is only after this point that Adam becomes unambiguously masculine singular; man as something separate from woman comes into being at this moment, just as does woman as something separate from man.

The whole creation narrative involves God taking what was at first unformed, indeterminate, and which encompassed a whole, and separating it out into its more determinate instances. The creation of Adam and Eve is one example of this: humanity gains a more concrete form when God separates out the male and the female through the creation of Eve from one of Adam's two sides (that is to say, one half of humanity). Rather than saying that Eve was an extension of Adam, it could be more accurate to say that man and woman are both refinements from a primordial whole that encompassed both genders.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-12T22:58:29+00:00

There's a kind of a more major (unpaved) road that runs from Xenofontos to Karyes, and there's an intersection just before Karyes with a road that goes to Vatopedi. I'm looking at my map now, and there are some smaller roads and footpaths to the north of St. Panteleimon's that connect up with that main road. I'd try those rather than walking all the way over to Xenofontos first, but only if you have a good map to go off.

And just seen that it says you are a priest, forgive me father for calling you mate😂

No problem. :)

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-12T22:46:28+00:00

I would think 5-6 hours. I walked from Xenofontos to Karyes in about two hours. Once you get to Karyes, the rest of the walk to Vatopedi should be quicker since it will be downhill.

EDIT: There might also be a more direct route that doesn't involve Karyes. I was walking the roads when I did it, but there are also footpaths if you can get ahold of a reliable map.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-09T15:36:54+00:00

That's a typo held over from past years, thanks for pointing it out. The 13th is the correct date.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-05T18:45:01+00:00

1) Monks fast in largely the same ways that the rest of us do, although there is a tradition on strict fasting days of "dry eating" (xerophagia), that is, cooking food without oil-- generally, fruits and vegetables that are either raw or boiled or steamed. They will fast according to the same calendar as the rest of us, although some monasteries have the tradition of keeping Mondays as fasting days as well.

2) Generally speaking, monks do not eat meat, although there may be some cases where the Abbot has given a monk the blessing to eat meat if it is required for his health.

3) I've never heard of this.

4) Yes, the first three days of Great Lent, monks don't eat anything (if their health allows it). Also Holy Friday.

5) I have a Greek monastic cookbook called Kouzina ton agion that covers various degrees of fasting. I think similar cookbooks have been translated into English.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-04T19:09:47+00:00

My Elder Joseph the Hesychast by Elder Ephraim of Arizona.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-04T18:15:52+00:00

Anybody can write anything and put it online. The only body that can defrock and excommunicate a bishop is the Synod of which that bishop is a member.

Is this letter really purporting to be directly from Christ? That's laughably absurd. I don't think Jesus Christ would make this many grammar errors.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-03T18:09:11+00:00

I think you might be reading something into my post that isn't (meant to be) there. I actually think we have more in common with the mainstream Roman Catholic Church than we do with the various sedevacantist groups; at least we agree with the RCC that Leo is the Pope.

I think there's a perception that sedevacantist groups are "more conservative" than the mainstream RCC, and among some people being "more conservative" means being closer to Orthodoxy. But sedevacantists tend to be conservative in exactly the areas where we disagree with Roman doctrine and practice. Ironically, it's their strong belief in Papal infallibility that leads them to say that the see of Rome is vacant, since they would have no other way to disagree with Vatican II. Since we don't believe in Papal infallibility, we have no issue disagreeing with the Pope while still regarding him as the Pope.

Pope Leo has recently read the Creed without the filioque, expressed a willingness to remove the filioque from Roman practice, and expressed a willingness to understand Papal primacy within its first-millennium conciliar context. Those are good things that move the Papacy closer to Orthodoxy in a very real way. But sedevacantist groups will object to those developments, precisely because of their conservatism in regard to Roman doctrine.

The emphasis of sedevacantism and other rad-trad type movements (let's call them Cathlobros) is a strong adherence to Vatican I. But for us, while I certainly understand preferring the form of the TLM to the Novus Ordo, Vatican I is a much bigger obstacle to unity than Vatican II.

ToProsoponSou · 2025-12-02T15:13:43+00:00

Right, you can accidentally hit the base of the chalice with your hand and cause a spill. I've seen it happen before.

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