How the clock is read. What is the great (royal) clock on the eve of the Nativity of Christ

The Hours is a short worship service established by the Church to commemorate certain sacred events. There are first, third, sixth and ninth hours. At the first hour, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise and the presence of Christ at the judgment of Caiaphas are remembered, at the third hour the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, at the sixth the crucifixion of the Savior, and at the ninth - His death on the cross.

However, three times a year, special rites of hours are established, which are called great in liturgical books, and among the people - royal. The popular name comes from the ancient tradition of Byzantium: the Emperor himself was obliged to be present at this clock in the cathedral, for this he left all state affairs. Russia adopted the traditions of church services from Byzantium, and our noble sovereigns strictly followed this rule.

The Royal Hours are performed on the eve of the holidays and Epiphany, on the so-called Christmas Eve (January 6 and 18), and are dedicated to these sacred events, as well as on Good Friday - for the sake of the Passion of the Lord. In addition to the psalms, at every hour (and they are performed in a row, from the first to the ninth), a paremia is read - a passage from the Old Testament containing a prophecy about a remembered day, a text from the Apostle and the Gospel. In addition, special troparia are sung.

If any of Christmas Eve falls on Saturday or Sunday, then the royal hours are transferred to the previous Friday, and there is no liturgy on this day. There are no right-believing sovereigns in Russia now, but the royal clock does not cease to be such. After all, the Heavenly King is present in churches with His grace. Let us not forget about the great hours, for it is with them that the celebration of Christmas and Epiphany begins, and Easter is preceded by them.

O. Konstantin Slepinin

The Liturgical Hours (services of the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th hours) is a special rite of prayers that is read in the temple at a certain time and established by the Church to commemorate certain sacred events. There are 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th hours. At the 1st hour, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise and the presence of Christ at the trial of Caiaphas are remembered, at the 3rd hour the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, at the 6th the crucifixion of the Savior, and at the 9th - His death on the cross.

Usually this is a rather short rank, reading and listening to which does not take more than 15-20 minutes.

It seems to me that the emergence of the prayer books of the Hours in the Old Testament and New Testament Churches is connected primarily with the Divine establishment of a person's habit of uninterrupted prayer. After all, in essence, the Angels and saints in paradise are in continuous praise to the Lord. Figuratively speaking, in the Kingdom of Heaven, in His exalted and spiritual temple, worship is constantly going on. And in order for a person to acquire the habit of this heavenly uninterrupted prayer, he acquires it even here - in earthly life. Hence the divine services of the hours at a certain time.

This can be compared to a monastic meal. So that the monk does not plunge headlong into the absorption of food, the meal is interrupted somewhere in the middle by the sound of a bell. Everyone gets up. They are baptized. A short prayer is said. Then they sit down again and eat food. By doing this, a person seems to be knocked out of the earthly rut, out of mental and heart concentration on his stomach, and again learns to fix his attention on the higher - on the heavenly.

Watch, I think have the same function - to distract a person's attention from the material concerns of the day. And turn your eyes to the Lord God.

The fact that the Old Testament Church knew the divine services of the hours is testified to by the first chapters of the Book of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, Acts of the Holy Apostles: “Peter and John went together to the temple at the ninth hour of prayer”(Acts 3:1); “The next day, as they were walking and approaching the city, about the sixth hour Peter went up to the top of the house to pray.”(Acts 10:9).

The fact that the apostles knew and used certain hours of the day for prayer is evidenced by a book written at the beginning of the 2nd century after the birth of Christ, “The Teaching of the 12 Apostles”. She prescribes to read the Lord's Prayer "Our Father" three times a day.

Titles but on the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th hours these short divine services were received because of a slightly different calculation of the time of day than ours in ancient Israel.

In ancient Israel the night was divided into four "guards"(the sentries guarding the settlement changed), a day, in accordance with the solar circle, - for four hours(changes in the movement of the sun relative to the earth), which are called "1st", "3rd", "6th" and "9th". The 1st hour corresponds to our seventh hour in the morning. 3rd hour - nine o'clock in the morning. 6th - twelve o'clock - noon. 9th hour - three o'clock in the afternoon.

Usually the hours are made in the following order. 1st hour - at the end of the All-Night Vigil, after Matins; 3rd and 6th hours - immediately before the Liturgy; The 9th hour according to the Charter must be read at the beginning of the All-Night Vigil, before Vespers, but in many parish churches it is not celebrated.

9th hour

So, let's start with the first liturgical hour, which is used in the temple. Because church liturgical day begins in the evening (vespers), That first(not in an arithmetic or chronological sense) the hour is the 9th. He is also the first in the spiritual sense.

We know for sure from the Holy Gospel that the Savior died on the cross at the ninth hour (the third afternoon in our reckoning). Therefore, the prayer memory of the 9th hour is dedicated to the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as His descent into hell. Therefore, the prayers of this hour are mournful, but at the same time, there is already an emerging Paschal joy in them, because the Bright Resurrection of Christ will happen very soon. That's why 9th hour And precedes all other daily services: Vespers, Matins, 1st, 3rd, 6th hours, Liturgy. After all, the church veil is torn in two, and humanity gets the opportunity to enter paradise. The era of the New Testament is coming - the era of salvation. Mankind is taking a new step towards God, Who has brought it as close as possible to Himself.

1st hour(after the dismissal of Matins)	3rd hour(Before Liturgy)	6th hour(after the prayer of the 3rd hour)	9th hour(before Vespers)
Sanctifies with prayer the day that has already come. (7 am). We recall the expulsion from Paradise of Adam and Eve and the presence of Christ at the trial of Caiaphas.	The service reminds us of the suffering of the Lord at the trial of Pilate and Herod, from the 3rd to the 6th hour, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles at the third hour of the day. (9 am)	We remember the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Noon)	We remember the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (15 hours).

1st Hour

The 1st hour, with God's help, was established later than the other three. As Professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy Mikhail Skaballanovich writes in his book "Explanatory Typicon": “The 1st hour was established in the 4th century. in Palestinian monasteries for ascetic purposes…” Those. The church of apostolic times did not know him. It was already established with the development of monasticism in the 4th century in connection with asceticism and ascetic discipline such as: "sleep less and pray more." The fact is that to aggravate the prayer vigil, the ancient monks broke the night Also for several guards, during which they stood up for prayer. The last prayer watch of the night is the 1st hour.

In addition, it also carries a spiritual gospel meaning. The Church recalls in his prayers the taking of Christ into custody in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Sanhedrin, the suffering and beating of the Savior by the Pharisees' servants, the trial by Pilate and the unjust death sentence pronounced on the Righteous.

3rd Hour

Main but the commemoration of the 3rd hour is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Most Holy Theotokos and the apostles, which happened exactly at the third hour ( cm. Acts. 2:15). As well as the way of the cross of Christ to Golgotha, which also took place about the third hour and later.

6th Hour

Commemoration of the 6th hour - the Crucifixion of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ. The execution took place, according to the Holy Gospel, precisely at the twelfth hour of the day.

Thus, we see that the divine services of the Hours are devoted primarily to the Passion of Christ and are called upon to prayerfully awaken in a person the spiritual vision of the Cross, Death, the Resurrection of Christ, as well as the birthday of the Church, one of the main events in our history - Holy Pentecost. Many holy fathers said that the remembrance and living of the heart, the inner person of Passion Week is very saving and beneficial. It unites the human soul with Christ and revives it to life. The Holy Apostle Paul also reminds us of this: “If we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him…”(Rom. 6:8).

Because the memories of the Liturgical Hours are connected with the Passion of Christ, there is no singing in these prayers, only reading, which is less solemn and more mournful.

Watch Structure

So, the structure of the Clock ... It is typical for all four, and, based on this, each hour takes about 12 minutes.

Psalms form the prayer basis of the Hours(on each - three), as well as chants of the current day - troparia and kontakia.

In the prayers of the Hours after the "hat" or right after "Come Let's Bow" there are 3 selected psalms (they are different for each hour), followed by troparia (special prayers) dedicated to the memory of the day, the event being celebrated or the saint (s). This is followed by special prayers "Theotokos" dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos. “Mother of God” also has its own for each hour. Then "The Trisagion of Our Father"(see any Orthodox prayer book: the beginning of morning prayers). Next, a special kontakion prayer, dedicated to the memory of the day. Then 40 times “Lord, have mercy”, the prayer “Even for any time”, priestly dismissal (for the 3rd and 6th hours it is “Through the prayers of our holy fathers ...”, and for the 9th and 1st it is "God, have mercy on us...") and the prayer of the hour(to each his own).

The clock always begins with the prayer "Come, let us worship" which is a kind of confession of our faith in the Holy Trinity, they continue with psalms, and after them with New Testament prayers, which shows a deep organic relationship between the Old Testament and New Testament Churches. The troparia and kontakia of the day are also mounted in the clock - that is, special short prayers dedicated to the event celebrated on this day or the saint commemorated. The central part of the clock, according to the will of the holy apostles, is the reading of the prayer "Our Father". Deep penitential prayer "Lord have mercy" , recurring 40 times and a prayer "Like for all time" telling us that we must worship God and glorify Him at all times and at every hour. Then release and prayer of the hour. All the psalms and prayers of the liturgical hour were chosen by the holy fathers with God's help in such a way as to remind us of the above-mentioned memories of the hour. An example of this is the 50th psalm at the third hour, the verses of which “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me.” as if they are directly telling us about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. And in Great Lent at this hour, the troparion directly says about the remembered event: “Lord, even Thy Most Holy Spirit at the third hour, sent down by Thy apostles, Him, the Good, do not take away from us, but renew in us, praying to You.”

Incidentally, the Hours undergo changes throughout the liturgical year. In Great Lent, readings of kathismas are added to them, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian "Lord and Master of my life..." certain troparia. On Holy Easter and Bright Week, the structure of hours changes by 90%. Then they include hymns glorifying the Bright Resurrection of Christ: the troparion and kontakion of Easter, the hymn “Seeing the Resurrection of Christ”, etc. Due to the special solemnity of the holiday Easter Clock often not read, but sung.

In addition, on the eve of such great holidays as the Nativity of Christ and Holy Theophany (Baptism of the Lord), great clock. They have the usual structure of the divine services of the hours, with the only difference being that the Old Testament readings of paroemia, the Apostle, the Holy Gospel are read on them. In Rus' they are often called Royal Hours. This is a historical name, as they were often attended by monarchs.

In ancient times, the Clock was served as it should be - at 7 and 9 in the morning, at 12.00 and 15.00. But, unfortunately, for a modern person with his haste and busyness, such a schedule is not suitable. Cause now Vespers begins at the 9th hour, and Matins ends at the 1st hour. A The 3rd and 6th hours join the beginning of the Divine Liturgy with the need for the priest to have time to perform the proskomedia during the reading of these Hours.

Since the daily divine service begins from the 9th and 3rd hours, these prayers have a “cap”: a priestly exclamation "Blessed be our God...", then the usual start "King of Heaven", Trisagion, “Our Father”, “Come, let us worship…” And the 1st and 6th hours begin only with "Come, let's bow..."

I would like to say that there is nothing unimportant and unimportant in the Church. This also applies to liturgical hours. Unfortunately, one often observes how people try to arrive at the beginning of the Liturgy, but are late by hours. One gets the impression that the reader, standing alone on the kliros and reading the Hours, does this only for himself, well, for the priest, as a last resort. Many others are busy with candles, notes, conversations - in a word, the usual temple bustle. And only when the exclamation sounds "Blessed is the Kingdom..." everyone is quiet.

But after all, the 3rd hour is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Most Holy Theotokos and the apostles, this is the way of the cross to Calvary of the Savior, and the 6th hour is the Crucifixion of Christ. He tells us that nails were driven into His pure hands for our sins. And God voluntarily gave himself over to suffering in the name of saving us all! Can we ignore it? Can we neglect the Clock?

Yes, there are extreme cases when, for objective reasons, a person was late for the beginning of the Liturgy, maybe he overslept once or several times. It happens to everyone? But there is a well-established tradition of treating the Clock as something insignificant. Type can be "cut", late. And it's already scary. After all, we are talking about the remembrance of the Passion of the Lord.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us remember that to arrive half an hour before the start of the Liturgy is not to arrive under the exclamation "Blessed is the Kingdom" late for the clock. No. This means arriving before the reading of the Hours begins. To have time to submit notes, and put candles, and kiss the holy images. And then, having recovered his breath and calmed down, begin to listen to the clock and heartily delve into the remembrance of the Passion of Christ and the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

After all, whoever is crucified together with our Lord Jesus Christ will rise with him.

Usually this is a rather short rank, reading and listening to which does not take more than 15-20 minutes.

Watch, I think they have the same function - to distract a person's attention from the material concerns of the day. And turn your eyes to the Lord God.

The fact that the Old Testament Church knew the divine services of the hours is testified to by the first chapters of the Book of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, Acts of the Holy Apostles: Peter and John went together to the temple at the ninth hour of prayer» (Acts 3:1); " The next day, as they were walking and approaching the city, about the sixth hour Peter went up to the top of the house to pray.» (Acts 10:9).

Titles but on the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th hours these short divine services were received because of a slightly different calculation of the time of day than ours in ancient Israel.

In ancient Israel the night was divided into four "guards"(the sentries guarding the settlement changed), and day, in accordance with the solar circle, - for four hours(changes in the movement of the sun relative to the earth), which are called "1st", "3rd", "6th" and "9th". The 1st hour corresponds to our seventh hour in the morning. 3rd hour - nine o'clock in the morning. 6th - twelve o'clock - noon. 9th hour - three o'clock in the afternoon.

Usually the hours are made in the following order. 1st hour - at the end of the All-Night Vigil, after Matins; 3rd and 6th hours - immediately before the Liturgy; The 9th hour according to the Charter must be read at the beginning of the All-Night Vigil, before Vespers, but in many parish churches it is not performed.

9th hour

We know for sure from the Holy Gospel that the Savior died on the cross at the ninth hour (the third afternoon in our reckoning). Therefore, the prayer memory of the 9th hour is dedicated to the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as His descent into hell. Therefore, the prayers of this hour are mournful, but at the same time, there is already an emerging Paschal joy in them, because the Bright Resurrection of Christ will happen very soon. That's why 9th hour and precedes all other daily services: Vespers, Matins, 1st, 3rd, 6th hours, Liturgy. After all, the church veil is torn in two, and humanity gets the opportunity to enter paradise. The era of the New Testament is coming - the era of salvation. Mankind is taking a new step towards God, Who has brought it as close as possible to Himself.

1st Hour

The 1st hour, with God's help, was established later than the other three. As Professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy Mikhail Skaballanovich writes in his book "Explanatory Typicon": " The 1st hour was established in the 4th century. in Palestinian monasteries for ascetic purposes... "I.e. The church of apostolic times did not know him. It had already been established with the development of monasticism in the 4th century in connection with asceticism and ascetic discipline of the type: sleep less and pray more". The fact is that to aggravate the prayer vigil, the ancient monks broke the night Also for several guards, during which they stood up for prayer. The last prayer watch of the night is the 1st hour.

3rd Hour

The main memory of the 3rd hour is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Most Holy Theotokos and the apostles, which happened exactly at the third hour (see Acts 2:15). As well as the way of the cross of Christ to Golgotha, which also took place about the third hour and later.

6th Hour

Commemoration of the 6th hour - the Crucifixion of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ. The execution took place, according to the Holy Gospel, precisely at the twelfth hour of the day.

Thus, we see that the divine services of the Hours are devoted primarily to the Passion of Christ and are called upon to prayerfully awaken in a person the spiritual vision of the Cross, Death, the Resurrection of Christ, as well as the birthday of the Church, one of the main events in our history - Holy Pentecost. Many holy fathers said that the remembrance and living of the heart, the inner person of Passion Week is very saving and beneficial. It unites the human soul with Christ and revives it to life. The holy chief apostle Paul reminds us of this: If we died with Christ, then we believe that we will also live with Him.…” (Rom. 6:8).

Because the memories of the Liturgical Hours are connected with the Passion of Christ, there is no singing in these prayers, only reading, which is less solemn and more mournful.

Watch Structure

So, the structure of the Clock ... It is typical for all four, and, based on this, each hour takes about 12 minutes.

Psalms form the prayer basis of the Hours(on each - three), as well as chants of the current day - troparia and kontakia.

In the prayers of the Hours, after the “hat” or immediately after “Come let us worship”, there are 3 selected psalms (they are different for each hour), followed by troparia (special prayers) dedicated to the memory of the day, the event being celebrated or the saint (s). This is followed by special prayers "Theotokos" dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos. “Mother of God” also has its own for each hour. Then "The Trisagion according to Our Father" ( see any Orthodox prayer book: the beginning of morning prayers). Next, a special kontakion prayer, dedicated to the memory of the day. Then 40 times “Lord, have mercy”, the prayer “Even for any time”, priestly dismissal (for the 3rd and 6th hours it is “Through the prayers of our holy fathers ...”, and for the 9th and 1st it is "God, have mercy on us...") and the prayer of the hour(to each his own).

The clock always begins with the prayer "Come let us worship", which is a kind of confession of our faith in the Holy Trinity, they continue with psalms, and after them with New Testament prayers, which shows a deep organic relationship between the Old Testament and New Testament Churches. The troparia and kontakia of the day are also mounted in the clock - that is, special short prayers dedicated to the event celebrated on this day or the saint commemorated. The central part of the clock, according to the will of the holy apostles, is the reading of the prayer "Our Father". Deep penitential prayer "Lord have mercy", recurring 40 times, and the prayer "Who is for all time" telling us that we must worship God and glorify Him at all times and at every hour. Then dismiss and pray the hour. All the psalms and prayers of the liturgical hour were chosen by the holy fathers with God's help in such a way as to remind us of the above-mentioned memories of the hour. An example of this is the 50th psalm at the third hour, the verses of which “ Create a pure heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” as if they are directly telling us about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. And in Great Lent at this hour, the troparion directly says about the remembered event: “ Lord, even Thy Most Holy Spirit at the third hour sent down by Thy apostles, Him, the Good, do not take away from us, but renew in us, praying to You».

Incidentally, the Hours undergo changes throughout the liturgical year. In Great Lent, readings of kathismas are added to them, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian " Lord and Master of my life…”, certain troparia. On Holy Easter and Bright Week, the structure of hours changes by 90%. Then they include hymns glorifying the Bright Resurrection of Christ: the troparion and kontakion of Easter, the hymn “Seeing the Resurrection of Christ”, etc. Due to the special solemnity of the holiday Easter Clock often not read, but sung.

In ancient times, the Clock was served as it should be - at 7 and 9 in the morning, at 12.00 and 15.00. But, unfortunately, for a modern person with his haste and busyness, such a schedule is not suitable. Therefore, Vespers begins now at the 9th hour, and Matins ends at the 1st hour. And the 3rd and 6th hours are added to the beginning of the Divine Liturgy with the need for the priest to have time to perform the proskomedia during the reading of these Hours.

Since the daily divine service begins from the 9th and 3rd hours, these prayers have a “cap”: the priestly exclamation “ Blessed is our God…”, then the usual beginning “ King of Heaven", Trisagion, " Our Father», « Come let's bow down... "And the 1st and 6th hours begin only with" Come let's bow down…»

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us remember that to come half an hour before the start of the Liturgy is not to arrive under the exclamation “ Blessed is the kingdom”, being late for the Clock. No. This means arriving before the reading of the Hours begins. To have time to submit notes, and put candles, and kiss the holy images. And then, having recovered his breath and calmed down, begin to listen to the clock and heartily delve into the remembrance of the Passion of Christ and the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

After all, whoever is crucified together with our Lord Jesus Christ will rise with him.

Priest Andrei Chizhenko
Orthodox Life

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12. Watches and Fine

The daily services also include the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours, which are performed daily according to the rule, of which we have already spoken of the first hour, which is always connected with Matins, as well as the ninth, which always precedes almost Vespers. Each of these "hours" is performed in memory of well-known events that save us.

This is discussed in detail in the Teaching News, which is placed at the end of the service book. In the first hour, corresponding to 7 o’clock in the morning according to our account, we recall how the Lord Jesus Christ was led to the praetor from Caiaphas to Pilate, “like a villain, a benefactor bound, and what a Judge of the whole world from the lawless bishops and elders of the Jews slandered and condemned by an unrighteous judge." The 1st hour was established, according to prof. M. Skaballanovich, in the 4th century in the Palestinian monasteries.

At the celebration of the third hour, which according to our account corresponds to 9 o'clock in the morning, we remember how the Savior was judged by Pilate, suffered there countless reproaches, beatings, scourgings and crowning with a crown of thorns. Along with this, the great event of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, which took place at that hour, according to the book of the Acts of the Apostles, is also remembered. In accordance with this, the corresponding psalms are selected: Ps. 16th “Hear, O Lord, my righteousness…”, Ps. 24th “Unto Thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul…” and Ps. 50th “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy…” In them, with a prayer that the Lord would teach us to walk in His paths, the suffering path of the Savior’s earthly life among enemies, His prayerful cry, the guilt before God of people and repentance in sins, as well as a prayer for sending us the Holy Spirit. In the ancient Books of Hours, starting from the well-known Book of Hours of the Sinai Library of the 8th century, for 3 hours the current psalms, as well as troparia, are indicated (see "Explanatory Typicon", M. Skaballanovich, issue 3, Kiev, 1915, p. 9 p. .).

At the celebration of the sixth hour, which corresponds to our 12 o'clock in the afternoon, we remember the crucifixion of the Lord on the cross in the midst of two robbers, the outrage of the soldiers and those passing over the suffering Lord, and the darkness that then covered the earth. In accordance with this, the psalms are laid out: the 53rd “God, save me in Thy Name ...” the 54th “Inspire, O God, my prayer ...” and the 90th “Alive in the help of the Most High ...” They bring a prayer to the Lord with hope in His help and prophetically indicates the betrayal of Judas, the hatred of the Jews who sought the death of the Lord, the suffering of the Savior of the soul and body, it also points to the darkness that covered the earth from the sixth to the ninth hour, and then depicts the happiness of people turning to God's help . In the oldest handwritten Hourbooks, the psalms of the 6th hour coincide with the present ones, as indicated above, with respect to the 3rd hour.

At the celebration of the ninth hour, the death of the Savior on the cross, the shaking of the earth, the rising of the dead from the tombs, and the piercing of the rib of the Lord with a copy are remembered. In accordance with this, the psalms are read: the 83rd "If Thy village is beloved, Lord of hosts ...", the 84th "Thou hast blessed, O Lord, Thy land ..." and the 85th "Incline, Lord, Thy ear and hear me ..." they depict the villages of the Lord of hosts and a fiery desire to enter them, a prophecy is set out about the redemption of people by the Lord, and there is an indication of the descent of the Savior into hell. The history of the origin of the 9th hour, like other hours: 1, 3, and 6, belongs to a number of church writers, and this can also be observed from the surviving monuments, to the 4th century and the subsequent time.

All these four hours are composed according to a completely identical plan: first, three psalms follow, concluding with a triple “ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God”, then comes the troparion of the hour, which is used only during Great Lent, while usually, instead of it, the troparion of the feast or holy day is read, then on “and now” the Theotokos hours, Trisagion By " Our Father”, special troparia, also read only during Great Lent, and usually replaced by the kontakion of a holiday or holy day, 40 times“ Lord have mercy”, the final prayer, common to all hours, Compline and Midnight Office:“ For every time and every hour... "again three times" Lord have mercy», « Most Honorable Cherub», « Bless in the name of the Lord, father"and the exclamation of the priest:" God bless us…" or: " Through the prayers of our holy fathers... ”At the end of each hour, a special, especially for this hour, final prayer is read. The first hour is almost always joined with Matins, the third and sixth hours, joined together, are read before Liturgy, and the ninth hour, which ends the day, is read before Vespers.

There is sometimes a different order of reading hours. So three times a year there is a reading of the so-called Royal Hours: on Good Friday, on the Eve of the Nativity of Christ and on the Eve of Theophany (or on the Friday before these holidays, if the eve falls on Saturday or Sunday). The royal hours have the peculiarity that they have two of the three psalms of special, prophetic content, and after the Mother of God, special pre-holiday stichera are sung at each hour, the prokeimenon is proclaimed, paroemia, the Apostle and the Gospel are read, and all these hours are read: the first, third, sixth and the ninth, in a row, constituting one service along with subsequent pictorial ones.

During Great Lent, and in all cases when Vespers is combined with the Liturgy, the hours follow one after the other: the third, sixth, and ninth, and then the pictorial ones (see below).

Each hour has after itself a special succession, which constitutes, as it were, its continuation and is called "Interhour" or "Communion." Each interhour, just like the hour, consists of reading the prayers of the beginning, three psalms, the Trisagion according to "Our Father", a troparion, "Lord, have mercy" 40 times, "Most honorable cherub ..." the exclamation of the priest and the final prayer; there is no only prayer: "Who is for all time." Prayers of the interhours are placed in the Followed Psalter and the Priestly Prayer Book. According to the charter, interhours are performed only on weekdays, and, moreover, weekdays. Interhours are canceled during the period of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ and Theophany from December 20 to January 14, in the week of meat and cheese, throughout the entire Passion and Easter week, as well as the week following the feast of Pentecost. At present, the interhours have fallen into disuse almost everywhere.

On those days when, according to the Rule, the liturgy is combined with the vespers, and also on those days when the liturgy is not celebrated at all for one reason or another, there is a special service, which is called "Illustrative", or "Lunchtime". If the service of the Pictorial instead of the Liturgy is not in fasting, then it is performed immediately after the service of the 6th hour; and on the days of fasting, the following of the Pictorial takes place after the 9th hour.

The pictorial ones begin with two psalms, usually included in the first part of the liturgy: psalm 102 “ Bless the Lord my soul…» and 145th " Praise, my soul, the Lord... "Then, as a song is sung at the liturgy, glorifying the Lord incarnate" Only Begotten Son and Word of God... "then the commandments of the Beatitudes, after which, if the Pictorial are performed instead of the liturgy, the Apostle and the Gospel are read, then after the triple" Remember us Lord…» Angelic praise is sent to the Triune God: Holy, holy, holy”, a creed is read (which is omitted if a full liturgy then follows), a prayer: “ Relax, leave…» « Our Father”, kontakia according to the charter, 40 times“ Lord have mercy”, “Glory, and now”, “ Most Honorable Cherub... "exclamation of the priest, prayer" Holy Trinity... "and dismissed if the liturgy follows, and if there is no liturgy, then further goes" Be the name of the Lord... "Reading Psalm 33" I bless the Lord at all times… "And " Worthy to eat... "and leave.

During Great Lent, the first two psalms 102 and 145 and “Only Begotten Sons” are skipped, and the Pictorial ones begin directly with the singing of the Beatitudes, and after each Beatitude commandment, it is sung: “ Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom».

From the book Explanatory Typicon. Part I author Skaballanovich Mikhail

Hours of Prayer Was not left in the II century. Adopted by the first Christians from the Old Testament Church, the custom of consecrating with prayer the three most important times of the day - morning, noon and evening. “Do not pray like hypocrites (i.e. Jews, as the context shows), says the Teaching of the 12 Apostles, but how

From the book Explanatory Typicon. Part II author Skaballanovich Mikhail

Clock As for the clock, we have seen that already in the IX century. their rank was formed up to the Trisagion, with which the rank of the hour ends both according to the Holy Sepulcher Typicon and according to the Sinai Hours of the 8th-9th centuries. By order of the Lavra of St. Savvas (see above, p. 298), representing in general a complete coincidence in the rank of hours.

From the book Gods of the New Millennium [with illustrations] author Alford Alan

Night hours and the rite of 12 Psalms

From the book of the Basics of Orthodoxy author Slepinin Konstantin

Pictorial The liturgy begins with three rows of hymns, rightly called in the Missal after the way they are performed by "antiphons". It is these antiphons that correspond to the festive degree of the day. For Sundays and lesser feasts, beginning with six

From the book The Age of Ramses [Life, religion, culture] by Monte Pierre

From the book Aesthetics of the Church Fathers author Bychkov Viktor Vasilievich

The Royal Hours Hours is a short worship service established by the Church to commemorate certain sacred events. There are first, third, sixth and ninth hours. At the first hour, the expulsion from Paradise of Adam and Eve and the standing of Christ at the judgment of Caiaphas are remembered, at the third

From the Liturgical book author (Taushev) Averky

4. Hours The Egyptians divided the year into twelve months; in the same way they divided day and night into twelve hours. Hour, apparently, they did not divide into smaller periods of time. The word at, which most likely translated as "instant", did not imply any

From the book of Jesus. The Man Who Became God author Pagola José Antonio

From the book Prayer Offering of Elder Sophrony author Sakharov Sofroniy

Lenten hours A feature of Lenten hours is that: 1. at each hour, with some exceptions, after the usual three psalms, a kathisma is chanted, 2. at each hour, the troparion of the given hour is sung three times with prostrations,

From the book Created Nature through the Eyes of Biologists author Zhdanova Tatyana Dmitrievna

Lenten Pictorial They always follow directly after the reading of the final prayer of the 9th hour, and the pictorial psalms themselves are omitted, and the following begins with singing to the 6th tone of the Beatitudes, and each commandment is sung:

From the book "Children of the Heavenly City" and other stories author Zobern Vladimir Mikhailovich

The Last Hours What did Jesus really experience in his last hours? Violence, blows and humiliation rained down on him on the night of his detention. Passion stories describe two parallel scenes of bullying. Both follow immediately after sentencing

From the book of Prayers in Russian by the author

Prayer in hours of despair, the LORD GOD OF MY SALVATION, by Thy merciful goodwill granting me this life, by Thy inexpressible power calling me from non-existence into being and putting into my soul the desire to seek Thee, the Creator and my God: hear me now at this hour, as I mourn. Invest

From the book Tales and stories author Panteleev Alexey

Living clock Biological clock. All living creatures are provided with a vital biological clock. These time devices genetically embedded in their body provide a clear regulation of both intraorganismal processes and the rhythm of human life,

From the author's book

Grandma's clock Grandma, why do you count everything every time your wall clock strikes, and then think about something? - The seven-year-old girl asked her beloved grandmother, climbing onto her knees when the clock struck twelve. - I think, my dear, the clock strikes on

From the author's book

Easter hours Easter hours are part of the divine service of Easter day (which includes matins, Easter hours, liturgy and vespers). They are read on Easter week (until Saturday morning inclusive) instead of morning and evening prayers (prayer rule). Starting from this day

From the author's book

Hours The story of Petka Jack the case came out. Petka once walked around the bazaar and thought different thoughts. And Petya was hurt and sad: he wanted to eat, and there was no money - even to buy sausage scraps. And there was nowhere to get it. But he wanted to eat terribly. Petya tried to steal a weight. But the weight

Hours are special rather short services dedicated to a certain hour of the day at which an important event from the earthly life of the Savior took place. In the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church, these are four hours: the ninth, first, third and sixth. The main theme of the ninth hour is the death of the Cross of the Lord and our God Jesus Christ; the first - the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise, as well as the trial of the God-man at Caiaphas, His dying sufferings; third - the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles; sixth - the crucifixion of the Lord on the Cross. The names of the hours, their numerical breakdown are taken from the Jewish tradition. The ancient Jews divided the day into four watches. Hence the name of the watch. Standing up for prayer at this time of day is still an Old Testament tradition, which in Christianity has already acquired a new meaning. Today, the ninth hour corresponds to 15.00, the first - 7.00, the third - 9.00, the sixth - 12.00. Now, for convenience, the services of the hours are joined to longer daily services. The ninth - at the beginning of Vespers, the first - at the end of Matins, the third and sixth are served before the beginning of the Liturgy.

But in the liturgical practice of the Church there are also great, or royal hours. Their content is dedicated to the most important Orthodox holidays. They are served three times a year: on Good Friday, Christmas Eve and Epiphany Eve.

They are called great because they are served very solemnly. A priest in a phelonion at the open Royal Doors. Incense is performed at every hour. In the first and last - the censing of the entire temple, with a burning candle, as in a polyeleos. At every hour paroemias (from the Greek - a parable) are read - special Old Testament readings, after them the Apostle and the Gospel. Readings from the Holy Scriptures are timed to the celebrated event. In addition, psalms, procimens, troparia, kontakia - almost all the prayers of the great hours - are dedicated to the holiday (Christmas, the Baptism of the Lord or the Passion of Christ).

These hours are called royal because Byzantine emperors were present at them, as at especially solemn services, which emphasized not only the liturgical spiritual importance of these services, but also their social significance.

In the eorthological sense (from the Greek "eortos" - a holiday; theological science of holidays), Christmas and Epiphany Eve are similar to each other, like twin brothers. Their services are also similar in form. This is due to the fact that in the ancient Church, the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord were celebrated on the same day as a single holiday, which was called Holy Theophany. In a separate date, the celebration of the Nativity of Christ stood out in the IV century.

In the modern church tradition, the great (royal) hours are served immediately one after the other in the following order - 1, 3, 6, 9. Usually, at the beginning of each hour, the corresponding number of times the bell is struck.

This year on Friday (because Christmas falls on Sunday) the Great Hours are celebrated. On this day it is not supposed to serve the Liturgy. According to the Charter, the divine service of the royal hours begins at 8.00.

They seem to introduce the Christian with readings from the Holy Scriptures and their prayers into the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, they give the heart and soul the right attitude.

After all, we are often supposedly the heroes of a poem by I. Brodsky:

At Christmas, everyone is a little wise.
In food slush and crush.
Because of a can of coffee halva
besieges the counter
a pile of bundles loaded people:
each to his own king and camel.

Nets, bags, string bags, bags,
hats, ties, knocked down on one side.
The smell of vodka, needles and cod,
tangerines, cinnamon and apples.
Chaos of faces, and you can't see the path
to Bethlehem because of snow pellets.

Because of all these chaotic nervous purchases, breaking tables, the arrival of relatives, we often do not see the path to Bethlehem. We forget about the main meaning of Christmas - the Nativity of Christ the Savior. And that we initially go to Him, and not to relatives for sandwiches. That's all later. First, OH.

And the great clock is the first step towards Him. Crossing the threshold of the temple, we seem to enter a cave where God is waiting for us. And we need to connect with Him as far as possible. You should honor Him first. It is important to be filled not with the social traditions of Christmas (this is later), but with the Spirit of Christmas, from which everything begins. And He is drawn at the divine services of these beautiful, joyful majestic days, in which the events of the salvation of man by God are remembered.

As the poet wrote in the same poem:

But when in the door draft
from the thick night fog
a figure in a scarf appears,
and the Child and the Holy Spirit
you feel in yourself without shame;
look up into the sky and see a star.

On the bright feast of the Nativity of Christ, dear brothers and sisters, we all want to see this gentle shining star leading us to the Divine Infant in the chaos of the world.

Priest Andrei Chizhenko