Liturgical Hours

[Mor Ephrem]

Dear Oriental Orthodox Friends,

One of the treasures of our Churches is the cycle of liturgical services celebrated daily, known variously as the Divine Office, Horologion, etc.  

My question doesn't really deal with how parishes incorporate the hours into their liturgical lives (although accounts of this are always welcome).  

The Eastern Orthodox Churches sometimes have a service called the Vigil, where they string together Vespers, presumably Compline though I'm not sure, Matins, and the First Hour (and maybe the Ninth Hour before Vespers?).  

In my Church, I have only seen Ninth Hour, Vespers, and Compline strung together in the evenings.  The Midnight Office, Matins, and the Third and Sixth Hours are strung together in the morning.

Do the Oriental Orthodox Churches have anything akin to the practice of Vigils in the Eastern Orthodox Churches?  Is it allowable (albeit looooong!) to string together the evening services of the Church with the Midnight Office and Matins of the next morning?  I have never seen this done.  I ask this in part to learn more about these practices in our various Churches, and also to learn if this is something one could do privately.  

Admittedly, I am bad with regard to not praying the canonical hours as much as I'd like to.  But when I do, I find that weekdays are generally OK.  When it comes to Sunday, though, I'm a wreck.  I can do Vespers and Compline easily.  But then the Midnight Office and Matins are something I can never do at home because I need to sleep and wake up early to go to church on Sunday.  My family is, shall we say, not as enthusiastic as I am for the canonical hours, and so we don't usually get there until the Third and Sixth Hours have already begun.  But I do not like the idea of missing such a nice chunk of our services.  Recently I wondered if doing these services all in one, like a Vigil in EO practice, was something that could be done, even if this took a long time.  So I am asking everyone out there what they think.  Is there precedent for this?  If not, why not?  If so, is it only allowed for Sundays and feasts, or can one have a Vigil at other times as well?  Should I not worry about it?  Should I go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier?  What are the options?

[Aklie Semaet]

Mor,

We do have a pre-Liturgy service called Mahlet but I am not sure this helps any. In general we conduct hours in Church. Those who do it at home in general have a separate practice of the 7 daily prayers.

The midnight prayer is very rewarding, you should go to sleep early and wake up to do it. It is hard but at least try to do it on fasting days.

[Mor Ephrem]

We do have a pre-Liturgy service called Mahlet but I am not sure this helps any. In general we conduct hours in Church. Those who do it at home in general have a separate practice of the 7 daily prayers.

Dear Aklie,

Could you tell us about this service called "Mahlet", and about the practice of people who sing the hours at home?

[Aklie Semaet]

Mor,

Well, Mahlet would be an impractical service to try on your own or at your house. Remember that in the Old Country all you had to do is wake up and walk across the street to go to Church.

It is preferable that you do the Hours, at Church if possible, but when you can’t the following are recommended.  For the Prayer itself number one you should have a “Tsalot bate” (Prayer house or room) somewhere in your home or on your property where you can go and pray. If you live in dormitories or an apartment with roommates be creative and innovative. It should have Icons that you face (facing east) when you pray. The Holy Mother and Christ Child are essential, Trinity is good but not essential, the rest is up to you, favorite Saints, angels, etc. It should also have the incense burner and CHURCH incense in it (I read somewhere where you described that your church was not so particular about what kind of incense is used so I guess it does not matter. For us however ONLY CHURCH incense [Frankincense] can be burned for Church, service, etc. and the other incense can be burned for secular purposes.)

Prayer times are: 1) rising from bed, 2) 9:00 AM, 3) noon, 4) 3:00 PM 5) in the evening, 6) before going to bed and, 7) hardest of all the so called “mid-night prayer” whereby you actually wake up, pray and go back to sleep. Now most people do not keep all these prayer times. However, during fasting and penance they should be kept. Sometimes also like 3:00 PM on fasting days, or in those Indain communities that have a daily Liturgy,  you would be at the Divine Liturgy so of course would skip that prayer.

Prayers: Monday read the Song of Miriam and Moses: Exodus 15: 1-19. Tuesdays our Church recommends a chapter from the book of Deuteronomy. Wednesdays read the Prayer of Hannah, 1 Samuel 2: 1-10. Thursdays read the Prayer of Habakkuk, Habakkuk chapter 3. Fridays some of the Praise Prayers of Isaiah such as chapter 25. Saturdays read Jonah chapter 2. Sundays something from the Hours, the Liturgy, etc are recommended. Let me point out that all of these Old Testament Prayers have been ‘retrofitted’ and have New Testament themes and events in mind when they are recited. The Prayer of Hannah, for instance is directed against arrogance and wicked thoughts because on Wednesday the Jews had evil thoughts, were arrogant and conspired to have Jesus put to death. After each of these prayers The Lord’s Prayer, Prayer of the Virgin and the Nicean Creed should all be recited (or read). Also, pay attention to the Calendar and Saint’s days. In the old country one just visits a Church dedicated to a particular Saint on that Saint’s day and prays there for a few minutes and gives alms to the beggars there. In North America however this would of course be impossible because you can not find Churches dedicated to most of the saints. Here, it is ok just to recite that particular saints prayer on their day during one of the 7 Prayer times.

Hope this is somewhat useful

[Mor Ephrem]

Somewhat?  That was great!  Thanks!

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