Molébens.

A moleben is a special service, in which prayers of thanksgiving and petition are offered to the Lord, to the Mother of God and the Saints, on occasion of some special occurrence in the life of the nation or of individuals. “Moleben” is a Slavonic word signifying “a service of petition.”

        Molebens belong either to public or to private worship. Under the head of “public worship” come molebens performed: 1) on “imperial anniversaries,” i.e., on the birthdays and names’ days of members of the Imperial House, on the day of the accession to the throne of the reigning Emperor, the day of the coronation of their Imperial Majesties; 2) on the day of a temple-feast, i.e., the day sacred to the commemoration of the person or event in whose name and honor a given parish church has been named and dedicated; 3) on days commemorating victories over enemies; 4) on occasions of public calamities, such as foreign invasion, epidemics, pestilence, drought or excessive rains, and the like. To “private worship” belong molebens performed at the desire of private persons on their birthdays and name’s days, before children begin lessons, when any one starts on a journey, when a new dwelling is entered, when thanks are given for some mercy which had been prayed for, for the recovery of a sick person, etc.

        Molebens are of three kinds: one includes the singing of a canon, another omits the canon, and the third omits the Gospel lesson.

The order of the moleben with canon is as follows: After the preliminary exclamation by the priest, “O Heavenly King...” is sung, then the Trisagion and the Lord’s Prayer; after that a psalm is read, selected with reference to the object prayed for. After the psalm the Great Ectenia is recited, with the addition of petitions bearing on the occasion of the moleben. Then are sung: “God is the Lord...,” troparia and the Penitential Psalm “Have mercy on me, O God...,” and at last the canon with refrains in the honor of the person invoked; for instance, in a canon to the Holy Trinity, the refrain is “Most Holy Trinity, our God, glory to Thee”; in a canon to the Virgin it is “Most-holy Mother of God, save us”; in a canon to St. Nicholas — “Father and Bishop Nicholas, pray to God for us.”

        After the third ode of the canon the Triple Ectenia is recited; after the sixth ode the Small Ectenia, which is followed by the reading from the Gospel (if the moleben is in honor of two or more Saints, two or more Gospels are read); after the ninth ode the hymn “It is truly meet...” is sung. This is followed by the Trisagion, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Triple Ectenia, after which a special prayer is read, appropriate to the object of petition or thanksgiving. Thus a Moleben with canon, is in its order, an abbreviation of Matins. An Akathist is sometimes joined with the canon, when it is recited after the sixth ode, before the Gospel lesson. Molebens with canons are sung on temple-feasts in honor of the Lord and His Saints, for deliverance from foes, in times of excessive rain, drought, or epidemic.

The moleben without canon proceeds in the same manner until the hymn “God is the Lord.” After that and the troparia, readings from the Epistles and Gospel are read (sometimes a paremia is read before the Epistle); the Gospel lesson is followed by the Triple Ectenia, after which the priest recites the special prayer for the occasion, which is listened to kneeling, and the Great Doxology is sung. Sometimes a prayer for the granting of length of days to the Emperor and his House is said after the Doxology. Molebens of this kind are sung on New Year’s Day, on the anniversary of the reigning Emperor’s accession to the throne and of the Coronation, to give thanks for some great mercy, for the safety of the Emperor and the soldiers in battle, on occasion of a child’s first lesson, for recovery from sickness, to ask a blessing on those that depart on journeys or to navigate the waters, and on bee-hives, and other sundry objects.

        There is no Gospel reading when the object of the moleben is to ask a blessing on various inanimate objects, such as a war vessel; an army flag, arms or ordnance, a new ship or boat, — or on the digging of a well or finding of water, or a newly completed well. All such articles are sprinkled with holy water, hence to the moleben is joined the rite of the Lesser Consecration of Water, which is performed after the model of the consecration prescribed for the 1st of August.