Euchology: A Manual of Prayers of the Holy Ortho- dox Church Author(s): Shann, G. V. Publisher: CCEL i Contents Euchology 1 Initial Stuff 1 PREFACE 2 ii This PDF file is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, www.ccel.org. The mission of the CCEL is to make classic Christian books available to the world. • This book is available in PDF, HTML, and other formats. See http://www.ccel.org/ccel/shann/euchology.html. • Discuss this book online at http://www.ccel.org/node/3480. The CCEL makes CDs of classic Christian literature available around the world through the Web and through CDs. We have distributed thousands of such CDs free in developing countries. If you are in a developing country and would like to receive a free CD, please send a request by email to [email protected]. The Christian Classics Ethereal Library is a self supporting non-profit organization at Calvin College. If you wish to give of your time or money to support the CCEL, please visit http://www.ccel.org/give. This PDF file is copyrighted by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. It may be freely copied for non-commercial purposes as long as it is not modified. All other rights are re- served. Written permission is required for commercial use. iii Euchology InitialEuchology Stuff EUCHOLOGY A MANUAL OF PRAYERS OF THE HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCH DONE INTO ENGLISH By G. V. SHANN. AMS PRESS Reprinted from the edition of 1891, Kidderminster First AMS EDITION published 1969 Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 75-82260 AMS PRESS INC TO THE VERY REVEREND, THE ARCHPRIEST EUGENE SMIRNOFF, CHAPLAIN TO THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN LONDON, THIS EUCHOLOGY IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED BY THE TRANSLATOR. 1 PREFACE PREFACE IT is purposed in the following pages to give the English Reader a brief but complete synopsis of the Daily Di- vine Worship of the Orthodox Church. Much of that here given I have printed previously, in one form or another, at different periods and under various cir- cumstances. In 1877 I issued privately a version of the All-Night-Vigil, and of the First, Third, and Sixth Hour Offices. In like manner in 1879 I brought out a small work, entitled Manual of Prayers, which contained the Devotions before and after Holy Communion, to- gether with the Troparia &c. for the whole year, and sundry other matter. VIII PREFACE. And from time to time I have contributed to the pages of the Orthodox Catholic Review renderings of the Passion of the Lord, of the Easter Matins, and of the greater part of the Daily Office. These intermittent and scattered labours are now collected, with additions, into one whole, and arranged in lucid order, with a few explanatory notes. Note 5 indicates the sources from which I have drawn in compiling the work, but it is fitting that I should especially mention how greatly I am indebted to Rajewsky's Euchologion for the admirable arrangement of the Daily Office, and to Neale's Introduction and Little-dale's Offices for many very ac- curate renderings of the original. Had the limits of the work permitted, I could have wished to have given the secret prayers of the Liturgies, notwithstanding that Neale's incomparable PREFACE. IX translations of these are readily accessible, and that the scope of this book is principally that of a Vade mecum for the laity; but I have had to content myself with giving only the audible parts, inserting in their proper places in the Order of the Service the variable Hymns &c. for Sundays and Week Days and for the principal of the Greater Festivals. Now that the work is in type in its present form I find here and there, owing to the fact that the translations have been made at intervals, some slightly varying renderings of one and the same original. For these, if they are faults, and for any errors into which I may have inadvertently fallen, I entreat the forbearance of the Reader, trusting only that the end pur- 2 PREFACE posed has been attained, and that the endeavour to make more widely known our Church's ancient Worship may prove of some X PREFACE. small service towards furthering the union of all the Churches, for which we daily pray. G. V. SHANN. Hurcott Road, Kidderminster, Epiphany, 1891. NOTES. NOTE I. ON THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE CHURCH, AND ON THE RITUAL An Orthodox Church is divided into three parts, namely, I. The Sanctuary, for the Clergy. 2. The Nave, for the Faithful. 3. The Porch, for the Catechumens and the Penitents. The Sanctuary, towards the east, is separated from the Nave, above which it is raised by steps, by a solid screen, called the Iconostas (lit. image-stand), pierced by three doorways, which are furnished with doors opening inwards, the centre ones being double, and called the Royal Gates. These latter are not solid throughout, but at the upper part are formed of open wood or metal work, and behind them hangs a curtain or veil, which is drawn and withdrawn as the ritual requires. In the middle of the Sanctuary stands the Altar, vested, first, with a linen covering, and, over this, with one of rich brocade. XII NOTES. Behind the Altar stands a representation of the Crucifixion, and before this a taper or lamp stand with seven branches. A Ciborium stands upon the Altar, and, at all times, a Book of the Gospels and a Cross lie upon it. When the Ciborium contains the holy Sacrament, reserved for the communion of the sick or the absent, or for the Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified, a suspended lamp burns before it. At the Celebration of the Liturgy, a small cloth, containing Relics, called the Antimins, is spread upon the Altar, and upon this are placed the sacred vessels with their coverings or veils. In the north of the Sanctuary is the Chapel of the Prothesis, where stands the Table of Oblations, also richly vested, upon which the sacred Gifts are prepared with significant rites before the beginning of the Liturgy. In the south of the Sanctuary is the Vestry. This and the Chapel of the Prothesis communicate with the Nave by the doors already mentioned as being in the Iconostas on either side of the Royal Gates. The raised floor of the Sanctuary projects westward beyond the Iconostas into the Nave, and forms the part called the Soleas, where the Choir stands, and in the middle of which is the Ambo, where the Deacon says the Ectenias and reads the Gospel. NOTES. X11I The Iconostas is adorned with representations of the Redeemer and of the Saints. In a panel on the right hand or south side of the Royal Gates there is always a representation of the Lord, and in a panel on the opposite side, one of the Mother of God. The most ancient 3 PREFACE examples of Iconostases are divided into three tiers. In the first and lowest of these are the representations of the Redeemer and of the Mother of God disposed as before mentioned, and in other panels those of the Saint to whom the Church is dedicated, of the Forerunner, of S. Nicolas, and of the Angels. In the second tier are depicted the Company of the holy Apostles, and in their midst an image of the Lord, :with the Virgin and John the Baptist. In the third and highest tier appear the Company of holy Prophets, and in their midst an image of the Tokens of the Mother of God. Above the centre of the Iconostas is fixed a Cross, either standing alone, or flanked by representations of the Virgin and of John the Divine. On the Royal Gates are depicted the Annunciation and the holy Evangelists, and above them, the Last Supper, and on the north and south doors, the holy Archdeacons, or the holy Archangels. The Porch in the ancient Church, was reserved for the Catechumens and the Peni- XIV NOTES. tents, but now is used for other purposes; for example, for Litanies in the Vigils of Great Festivals, for Prayers for the Departed, and for Baptisms; and in the Monasteries it is fur- nished with a table for Icons. At the Service time the Priest and Deacon put on tunicles over their ordinary cassocks, and maniples upon their wrists. The Priest puts the Epitrachelion about his neck, and the Deacon the Orarion upon his left shoulder. The Priests' Epitrachelion is a broad strip of brocade hanging down before him, and is the token of his sacerdotal office. He puts on moreover a vestment or cope, called the Phelonion. The Deacon's. Orarion is a long narrow scarf, hanging from his shoulder back and front, and is the emblem of his serving office. He holds the fore end of this in his fingers when saying the Ectenias, and binds the whole about his shoulders in the form of a cross during the time of the Communion. The Readers also are vested in tunicles. The attitude at worship is standing. This is in accordance with a decree of the First Ecumenical Synod of Nic√¶a. Kneelings and prostrations are also practised, in the Great Fasts and at the Diptychs as directed by the rubric, and at other times according to individual choice. The worshippers make the NOTES. XV sign of the Cross on entering and leaving the Church, at the more solemn moments of the Service, and as devotion prompts. This is done by joining the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand, and touching therewith, first, the forehead, next, the breast, then, the right shoulder, and lastly, the left.