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. 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.
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 according to
Greek Practice.
The Saturday of
the Akathist Matins, according to Russian Practice (but note that for the
canon of the temple, it has the canon of St. Jonah, and so you will need to
adjust the text to fit your parish).
Note: None of the daily troparia normally appointed
for Small Compline are used, neither is the troparion for the
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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