The
Service of The Akathist Hymn
For the Fridays of Great Lent
Arranged for use with a Priest
Or as a Reader Service
Note:
The Translation of the Akathist Canon, is based primarily on that found
in The Old
Orthodox Prayer Book, published by the Old Rite Church of the Nativity, but with numerous changes which drew freely
upon the translation found in Bishop Kallistos (Ware)’s Lenten Triodion,
and The Service of the Akathist Hymn, published by Holy Transfiguration
Monastery in Boston. The End result is
a new text, all the mistakes of which the webmaster takes full
responsibility. The Akathist itself is
taken from the Jordanville Prayer book (as found on Bishop Alexander’s Web
Site), with one change made to the first line from Ikos 7, one change to Ikos
12, and two changes to the 13th Kontakion to make the text more in accordance with the original Greek..
The
Akathist Canon and Hymn is laid out such that it can be used in a service with
a priest or as a Reader Services. The
texts of Small Compline are available on this site: both for use with a Priest,
and as a Reader
Service. This is presented in hopes
that those who either belong to parishes which have no Friday evening services
scheduled during Great Lent, or who are isolated from a parish, will find this
beautiful service helpful in their Lenten struggles. In most Russian parishes, there is a Vigil on the Friday of the
Fifth Week, which does not consist of Small Compline, as laid out below. The Lenten Triodion gives the order
for that service, and of course if one belongs to such a parish, they should
attend that service if they can. I
present here the Greek order, for those who do not.
This entire
service can also be downloaded in Word Format.
The Order of Service
On
the first four Fridays of Lent, at Small
Compline, immediately after “It is truly meet…” we chant the Akathist Canon
followed by the Stasis which corresponds to the week:
First Stasis of the
Akathist (first Friday)
Second Stasis of
the Akathists (Second Friday)
Third Stasis of the
Akathists (Third Friday)
Fourth Stasis of
the Akathist (Fourth Friday)
On
the fifth Friday of Great Lent, according to Greek practice, the Akathist Canon
and Akathist Hymn are chanted in their entirety at Small Compline,
according to the order given at the link below:
Akathist
Hymn and Canon as chanted on the fifth Friday of Great Lent
Note: None of the daily troparia normally appointed
for Small Compline are used, neither is the troparion for the Temple. Instead, a Kontakion is used, as noted in
the material linked above.
For
those who want more complete rubrics, as well as the Byzantine Music for this
Service, see The
Service of the Akathist Hymn, published by Holy Transfiguration
Monastery.
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