First & Second Antiphons used in the Divine Liturgy

[Arystarcus]

I've been visiting different churches for liturgy and I noticed that there were variances in what the churches used for the first and second antiphons of the liturgy.

Some churches used "Bless the Lord, O My Soul" for the first antiphon and "Praise the Lord, O My Soul" for the second antiphon, and they were used for each liturgy.

Other churches used some other verses for the first antiphon which used the response "Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Saviour save us!" and for the second antiphon more verses were sung interspersed with "O Son of God who rose from the dead, save us who sing to Thee: Alleluia" - these were used at each liturgy as well.

I thought the form of the Divine Liturgy was pretty standard, with the mainy difference being whether or not churches used modern english (You, Yours) or traditional english (Thee, Thou).

Why the differences?

In Christ,
Aaron

**Edited to correct the spelling error in the topic's title

[Elisha]

(Someone let me know if I am wrong)

Slavic Typicon: Bless the lord & praise the lord
Greek Typicon:  "Throught the Prayers..." & O son of God.

Also, the Beatitudes is only in the the Slavic and not Greek, but I've heard that this is only a modern usage thing for the Greek and it is in more venerable versions (like 100s of years or even over a millenia).

Lazy liturgical praxis:  BtL & PtL are sometimes shortened and often the Psalm verses are omitted in the "Through the Prayers..." and "O Son of God..." and the refrain just sung/chanted 3x.  Also, the Litanies after the Homily and before the Cherubicon are frequently shortened or omitted.  YMMV.

Gotta go home now.

[sdcheung]

Monastic Typicon

Ps. 102, 145, Beatitudes with Stichs

Asmatike "Cathedral" practice
Ps. 91, 93, 94 with the Excalmations of through so and so save us, or o son of god risen from the dead save us

[observer]

Both Greek and Slav practice was to use Blessed the Lord etc on Sundays and Polyeleos Saints (always with  exceptions  )

Now modern practice  for the Greeks is to only use the weekday or Simple saints i.e. Through the prayers etc...

In Slav Churches the weekday antiphons are used - yes on weekdays if the day does not commemorate a Polyeleos rank saint.

The shorter antiphons are used for some great feasts too !!  Today Veneration of the Cross, the Slavs use the shorter antiphons.

The old, oriiginal practice was to use the longer psalms with beatitudes.  Slavs still do this, Greeks don't.

[Deacon Lance]

Carpatho-Rusyns (Catholic and Orthodox) use the Paschal 1st and 2nd antiphons every Sunday, verses from Psalm 65 and Pslam 66.  The Typical Pslams are used during Lent.  The Great Feasts of the Lord have their own special antiphons.

1st Antiphon
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth, sing praise to His name; give to Him glorious praise. Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen. Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us.

2nd Antiphon
Be gracious to us, O God, and bless us; let your face shine upon us, and have mercy on us. O Son of God, risen from the dead, save us who sing to You. Alleluia.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.

O Only-Begotten Son and Word of God, Who, being immortal, deigned for our salvation to become incarnate of the Holy Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, and became man without change. You were also crucified, O Christ, our God, and by death have trampled Death, being one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us.

3rd Antiphon
Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord; let us shout with joy to god our Savior. O Son of God, risen from the dead, save us who sing to You. Alleluia.

[ilyazhito]

Like observer said, it is an aspect of different traditions. Greeks and Antiochians tend to use the verse-refrain form, the Slavic churches tend to use the psalms, but there may be exceptions. The use of traditional or modern language depends on how strict the Bishop is, and on the priest.
** A personal note**
In the Diocese of the West (OCA), Bishop Tikhon and his successor enforce the use of "Thou" for everyone, including the Theotokos and the saints, not only the Lord. Other  dioceses give the rectors more leeway.

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