End of Matins and the First Hour.
Having celebrated the
glory of God, we offer up petitions for all Christians and ask for spiritual
mercies in the words of the Triple Ectenia and the Ectenia of
Supplication, after which the Dismissal is made.
After the Vigil is
concluded the office of the First Hour is read, which ends with a hymn in honor
of the Virgin (Theotokion):
“To thee, the Champion Leader, we thy
servants dedicate a feast of victory and of thanksgiving as ones rescued out of
sufferings, O Theotokos; but as thou art one with might which is invincible,
from all dangers that can be do thou deliver us, that we may cry to thee:
Rejoice, thou Bride Unwedded!”
NOTE. — Wherein the Daily Services of Vespers and Matins
differ from the same Services as performed at an All-night Vigil. — The daily
Vespers service differs from that performed at a feast-vigil in the following
points: 1) The Introductory Psalm is read with the Royal Gates closed, not
open; 2) the kathismata are read right along, without the chanted
Alleluia after each verse; 3) There is no Vespers or evening entry, but the
hymn “O Gentle Light” is recited or sung quickly, with the Royal Gates closed;
4) the paremiæ are omitted (excepting in Lent), so are the Litia
and the Blessing of the Loaves. — The Vespers service is followed by the Small
Compline.
The
daily Matins service begins with two Psalms, two troparia, a Theotokion,
and an abridged Triple Ectenia. All these contain petitions that the
Lord may, through the intercession of the Mother of God, save the Church
authorities, and render them victorious over their enemies. In olden times, in
Orthodox kingdoms, these prayers were offered for the Tsar. In the further
order of the daily Matins service there are the following differences from the
same service as performed at a feast-vigil:
1)
There is no Polyeleos or Gospel lesson, and immediately after the kathismata
is read Psalm 50, “Have mercy on me, O God!,” which is followed by the
scriptural odes and the canons; 2) The Doxology is recited, not chanted; 3)
After the ectenia, Dismissal is not made, but the reading of the First
Hour begins at once. When Matins is performed apart from Vespers, it is
preceded by the Midnight Office.