The Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos is dedicated to the remembrance and glorification of the event described in the Gospel of Luke (1, 26-38). Among the ancient Christians, this holiday had a different name: the Conception of Christ, the Annunciation of Christ, the Beginning of Redemption, the Annunciation of the Angel of Mary, and only in the 7th century it was given a name in the East and West Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos... This holiday was established in ancient times. It is known about its celebration already in the III century.
In ancient times, the Annunciation was called the day of the Incarnation and was celebrated as the Lord's feast. Now it is perceived as a purely Mother of God holiday.
The divine service is concentrated on the dialogue between Archbishop Gabriel and the Most Holy Theotokos (Luke 1.26-38). This dialogue is most vividly present in the canon (Creation of St. Theophanes, Mt. Nicaea in the 9th century, however, in stichera and other cases this theme is also heard.)
Every year the service for the annunciation is unique, because the holiday can fall on any day from Thursday of the 3rd week of V.P. - until the Wednesday of Holy Week.
For each occasion, the holiday has a special form, which is described in detail in the Typicon (see Typicon for the Annunciation on March 25th.)
Features of worship... In its characteristics, the holiday of the Annunciation is approaching the holidays of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany. It belongs to the number of the Twelve Feasts of the Theotokos, but since it often coincides with the days of Great Lent, it has only one day of the forefeast and one day of the afterfeast or the giving of the feast. The feast takes place on the days of Great Lent or Bright Week, in the interval from Thursday of the 3rd week of Great Lent to Wednesday of Bright Week (inclusive). If the Annunciation falls on Lazarev Saturday, then there is no afterfeast. And if the Annunciation occurs on the week of Vai or on Passion or Bright Week, then it has no forefeast or afterfeast, but only one day is celebrated. The Omnipresent Vigil sometimes begins with Great Compline (as on the feast of R.H.), sometimes with Great Vespers, and sometimes immediately with Matins.
1. With Great Compline, the all-night vigil of the feast begins when, on the eve of it (that is, March 24), Vespers (with entrance and paremias) was performed in the afternoon (with the entrance and paremias) separately or in conjunction with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (if the feast occurs on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday , Friday and Saturday of St. Forty and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of Holy Week).
2. The great evening all-night vigil begins if the Annunciation occurs on Sunday (Sunday) and on the Mondays of Great Lent and on all days of Bright Week.
3. All-night vigil begins if the Annunciation occurs on Great Friday (Vespers was on the eve, on Thursday before the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great) and on Great Saturday (Vespers was celebrated especially the day before, on Friday).
At the blessing of loaves, on "God the Lord" and at the end of Matins, the troparion of the holiday is sung (Ch. 4): "This day of our salvation is the chief thing ...". At Matins: polyeleos and glorification: "The Arangelian voice cry Ti, Pure: Rejoice, Blessed One, the Lord is with Thee?" The Gospel (Luke Conc. 4). According to custom, the canon of the holiday is read by two reciters (up to the 9th canto): one reads the troparia of the Angel, the other of the Mother of God. The troparia of Canto 9 is recited by one reader with a chorus sung by the chorus. According to the 8th canon of the "Honest" canon, as a rule, it is not sung, but the chorus and irmos of the 9th song or one of the Annunciation feasts (before Vai Week), or together with the refrain and irmos of the Triodi (starting with Vai Week and Easter week). An exception here is the celebration of the Annunciation in the Weeks (resurrection) of the 3rd, 4th and 5th weeks of Great Lent, when the "Most Honest" is sung on the 8th canto. The great doxology, as a rule, is read on all days of Great Lent, on which the Annunciation occurs, with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays, when the great doxology is not read, but sung. On Easter Sunday, on the day of the Annunciation, great praise is not prescribed. When the great doxology is read, at the end of Matins there is the litany "Have mercy" on us, O God, "and three great obeisances with the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian (if they are laid during these days of Great Lent). AN EXCEPTION:
1) If the Annunciation happens on Easter (the so-called Kiriopasha), at light Matins, before the Great Litany, on "Glory" and then on "And Now" the troparion of the Annunciation is sung. There is no such thing as polyeleos and magnificence. The Gospel of the Feast of the Annunciation (Luke, Conc. 4) at Matins is read after the 6th canon of the canon (before this the prokeimenon of the Annunciation is sung). The canon of the holiday is combined with the Easter canon. At the liturgy, after the Easter Gospel, the Gospel of the Annunciation is read (Luke, Zach. 3).
2) If the Annunciation occurs on the Week of Vai, then at the blessing of the loaves the troparion of the Annunciation (twice) and the Week of Vai (once) is sung, after the polyeleos - the glorification of the Annunciation. Prokemen and the Gospel of the Week Vai, we do not sing "The Resurrection of Christ". "Glory: Today Christ enters the city of Bethany ...", "And now" - the same. "Have mercy on me, God ...".
3) If the Annunciation happens on Great Friday, then at Matins 12 daytime ("Passionate") Gospels are read. After the 7th Gospel, there is a polyeleos and the glorification of the holiday, and then the grave ones are sung - the 1st antiphon of the 4th tone, the prokemen of the holiday, and the Gospel of the holiday is read. The canon of the holiday is combined with the Great Heel triune.
Hours are either daily, when the Annunciation occurs on Saturday and the Week (Sunday) of Forty, as well as on Maundy Thursday and Great Saturday, or Lent on the rest of the days of Forty and Holy Week. Bows at Lenten hours are only at the 1st hour and pictorial (3 great bows each), and on Holy Week - at all hours (also 3 great bows).
If the Annunciation happens on Great Friday or on Easter Week, then the hours are those that are set for these days (i.e., Great Hours and Easter Hours, respectively).
Vespers is celebrated on the very day of the Annunciation. It begins with a liturgical exclamation and is performed before the liturgy (directly uniting with it) on those days when Lenten hours are celebrated on the Annunciation (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday), as well as on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Holy Week. Vespers takes place after the Liturgy, in due time - in the evening, when the feast is on Saturday and Sunday of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th weeks of Great Lent and on Easter Week.
LITURGY on the feast of the Annunciation is always performed according to the order of St. John Chrysostom or St. Basil the Great. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is not performed on this day. Liturgy of St. Basil the Great occurs when the holiday occurs on the Week (Sunday) of the Forty Day (except for the Week of Vai), on Great Thursday and Great Saturday. Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom happens on other days, including on Great Friday (after Vespers). At the liturgy on the feast of the Annunciation, instead of "Worthy", the Zadoinik of the feast is sung. But if the Annunciation happens on Great Thursday or Great Saturday, then at the liturgy of St. Basil the Great is sung Zadostinik not of a holiday, but of a day (on Maundy Thursday - "Wanderings of the Lord", on Holy Saturday - "Do not weep for Me, Mother"). If the temple is to the Annunciation, then the Zadoinik of the holiday is sung.
Practical departure of the holiday service... It should be noted that the Vespers service, which is in the Typikon on March 25, is not celebrated on the very day of the holiday, but on the 24th with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (but Wednesday and Friday) or without it (on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday). And this is because Vespers in the days of Great Lent is celebrated the day before, but it belongs to the next day. In addition, in the Typicon under the 24th and 25th numbers there is no indication regarding the departure before the festive evening hours and figurative, nevertheless, it should be remembered that the entire daily circle is unthinkable without hours. During the 9th hour prayer, the clergy perform entrance prayers. At the end of the 9th hour "Blessed" is sung. Psalms 102: "Bless the Lord, my soul ..." and Psalms 145: "Praise, my soul, the Lord ..." are omitted, and the choir immediately sings "In Thy Kingdom ...". All other verses are sung with a refrain: "Remember us, Lord, when you come in Thy Kingdom." Then, after reading The Most Honest, the priest leaves the altar on the pulpit and recites the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian with three great bows, after which the reader reads the prayer: "All-Holy Trinity ...". At the end of it, the priest says: "Wisdom." Chorus: "It is worthy to eat" to the middle. Priest: "Most Holy Theotokos, save us." Chorus: "Honest". Priest: "Glory to Thee, Christ God, our hope ...". Chorus: “Glory, and now. Lord, have mercy (three times). Bless. " And there is a complete release. The priest goes to the altar and prays at the throne: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God, atone for my sins, and have mercy on me. Lord, who created me, have mercy. Without the number of those who have sinned, Lord, forgive me. " Then the priest utters a liturgical exclamation: "Blessed is the Kingdom ...", tracing the cross with the Gospel over the antimension, and Vespers begins, which is combined with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. But if the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is not performed, then the transition from pictorial to Vespers will be like this. Immediately after the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian begins Vespers with the words: "Come, let us worship ..." and so on. If the holiday happens in Great post , then kathisma and obeisances at Vespers are omitted. On "Lord, I have cried out" - stichera on 10: Triodi - 2, similar - 3 and holidays - 3 (2 of them are repeated), "Glory, and now" - a holiday. The proxy of the day, the pair of the day (2) and the holiday (3): 1. Gen. ch. 28, 2. Ezek. ch. 43-44, 3. Prov. ch. 9. Then “May my prayer be corrected”, great obeisances (three) and other followings of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. But if the Liturgy is not celebrated, then on "Lord, Cry" - stichera at 8: Triodi - 3 and feast - 5, "Glory, and now" - feast. Entrance. The proxy name of the day, the pair of the day (2) and the holiday (3). But if the Annunciation happens on one of the Saturdays of Lent, then 7 paremias are read: 2 daytime and 5 holidays, and if the holiday happens on Sunday, then 5 paremias are read: three that are read on the Nativity of the Virgin, and two that belong only to the service of the Annunciation: 1) Exodus, ch. 3 (about the bush) and 2) Proverbs, ch. 8 (about the eternal existence of the Son of God). Then "Grant me, Lord." On the verse - the self-voiced stichera of the day (twice) and martyred, "Glory, and now" - the stichera of the holiday. According to "Now otpuschaeshi" - the troparion of the holiday, litany, three great obeisances with the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian and release. The All-night Vigil begins, according to the Rule, with Great Compline. After reading the doxology, lithium is performed. The stichera of the holiday are sung 3, ch. 1. (On Saturday and Week - on "Glory" - "Let the heavens be merry"). “Stanza on the verse of the holiday, with their choruses, ie "Bless from the day the salvation of our God." At the blessing of the loaves - the troparion of the holiday (three times). "Be the name of the Lord" and Ps. 33. At Matins: on "God the Lord" the troparion of the feast (three times). According to kathisma - the sedals of the holiday. Polyeleos, sedalens of the holiday, sedate - 1st antiphon of Ch. 4. Prokimen ch. 4: "Announce from the day the salvation of our God", "Sing a new song to the Lord." Gospel of Luke, cred. 4. Then "Glory: By the Prayers of the Theotokos", on "And now" - the same and "Have mercy on me, God." The stichera of the holiday. Canon - of the holiday, ch. 4, irmosi twice, troparia at 12. Katavasia - a holiday. But in those canon songs where the triodes coincide, i.e. on Monday 1,8,9, etc., then the canon of the holiday with irmos at 6 and a trinity at 8. Katavasia - irmos triodi. According to the third song - the sedals of the holiday. On the 6th canto - kontakion "Climbed Voevoda ..." and ikos. On the 9th canto there is a refrain: "Evangelize, to the earth, great joy, praise the heavens of God's glory" and irmos: "Like an animated one ..." then irmos Triodi. The luminary of the holiday “Angelic Forces. .. "(twice). "Glory, and now" - "Hedgehog is known from time immemorial."
On praises - stichera for 4, "Glory, and now" - "Hedgehog from the age of the sacrament." If the holiday happens on Saturday or Sunday, then we sing the great doxology, but if on other days, then the daily doxology is read. After reading the great doxology, the litany is pronounced: "Let's fulfill the morning prayer." According to "Our Father ..." - the troparion of the holiday, after which augmented litany: "Have mercy on us, God ...". Then: "Wisdom." Chorus: "Bless." Priest: "He is blessed ..." Chorus: "Amen." The reader - the prayer: "Heavenly King ...", after which the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian with three bows and immediately read the 1st hour and release. 1st hour with kathisma, troparion and kontakion of the holiday. At the end of the hour, after the exclamation: "God, grant us ...", three great obeisances and the prayer "Christ, the true Light" and let go. Hours 3, 6 and 9 are also with kathismas, but without bows. At 6 o'clock - the Triodi pair. Then “Blessed”, but not from the beginning; "Bless, my soul, the Lord ..." (Psalm 102) , but directly "In Thy Kingdom ..." and so on. (soon, without singing and without bowing), "Remember us, Lord ...", "The face of heaven ...", "Loosen up, leave ...". According to "Our Father ..." - the kontakion of the holiday, "Lord, have mercy" (40 times), "Glory, and now", "Honest", the exclamation "God, bless ..." and three great bows with the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian and the prayer "All-Holy Trinity ...". Then the priest on the pulpit: "Wisdom." Chorus: "It is worthy to eat"; priest: "Most Holy Theotokos, save us" ... Chorus: "Honest." Priest: "Glory to Thee, Christ God ..." Chorus: "Glory, and now", "Lord, have mercy" (three times), "Bless" and there is a complete release, after which the priest prays at the throne as usual before the liturgy: " Heavenly King ... ". Vespers begins with exclamations: "Blessed is the Kingdom ..." It should be noted that Vespers, which precedes the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, placed in the Typicon under the 26th number. Since the service under March 25 ends with hours with pictorial. Vespers. On "Lord, I have cried out" - stichera of Triodi 2 and are similar to Triodi 3, feast 3 and archangel 3. At this time, proskomedia is performed. Entrance with the Gospel. "Quiet Light". Prokimen of the day, 4 paremias: 2 days and holidays 2: 1) Exodus, ch. 3 ("Behold Moses ..."); 2) Proverbs, ch. 8 ("The Lord made me the beginning of His ways ..."). Then a small litany and an exclamation: "For thou art holy ...". "Holy God ..." is sung. Then prokeimen, ch. 4: "Evangelize from day to day ...", Apostle to Heb., Cred. 306. The Gospel of Luke, cred. 3, and the rest of the sequence of the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Zadostochnik: "Evangelize, the earth ...", "Like animated ...". Participated: "The Lord of Zion is chosen and will him in thy dwelling." GIVING Feast of the Annunciation (March 26). On the very day of the holiday - in the evening of St. The service on weekdays at forty (except Saturdays and Sundays - in the evenings, since on these days the service begins with Vespers, and then Small Compline and Matins) should begin with Small Compline, at which the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian with all bows. Small let go: "Christ is the true God ...".
The Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos is dedicated to the remembrance and glorification of the event described in the Gospel of Luke (1, 26-38). The ancient Christians had different names for this holiday: the Conception of Christ, the Annunciation of Christ, the Beginning of Redemption, the Annunciation of the Angel to Mary, and only in the 7th century in the East and West it was given the name "Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos." This holiday was established in ancient times. It is already known about its celebration in the 3rd century (see the Word of St. Gregory the Wonderworker for this day). In their conversations, St. John Chrysostom and St. Augustine refer to this holiday as an ancient and ordinary church celebration. During the V-VIII centuries, due to heresies that humiliated the Face of the Mother of God, the holiday was especially exalted in the Church. In the 8th century, Saint John Damascene and Theophanes, Metropolitan of Nicea, compiled the festive canons, which are now sung by the Church.
Features of the divine service of the holiday
In its characteristics, the holiday of the Annunciation is approaching the holidays of Christmas and Epiphany. It belongs to the number of the Twelve Feasts of the Theotokos, but since it often coincides with the days of Great Lent, it has only one day of the forefeast and one day of the afterfeast, or the giving of the feast.
The feast takes place on the days of Great Lent or Bright Week, in the interval from Thursday of the 5th week of Great Lent to the Wednesday of Bright Week (inclusive).
Liturgical lighting of the holiday
According to the ideological content, the divine service on the day of the Annunciation is a lengthy and deepest interpretation of the Gospel reading about the gospel of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary before Her conception of the incarnate God of the Word. The liturgical stichera and the canon of this holiday are dedicated to the explanation of the Archangel's greeting to the Most Holy Theotokos and Her response to the gospel (Luke 1, 26-38). Thanks to this exegesis, the entire mysterious meaning of the event remembered by the Church appears before the consciousness of believers in its universal and all-human meaning.
St. Theophanes, Metropolitan of Nicea, compiled the canon of the holiday in the 8th century in the form of a dialogical conversation between the Archangel and the Ever-Virgin, and skillfully introduced the Old Testament prophecies of the Incarnation into it. The canon language is riddled with scientific and theological terms. The biblical-historical event of the Annunciation is called in the church troparion the "principal" of human salvation and the disclosure to people of the secret of God's eternal Council about the Son of God as the Son of the Virgin. On this day, two thousand years ago, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, by an incomprehensible act of God, seedlessly conceived the incarnate God of the Word 1, “hastened” to take up residence in the womb of the Virgin 2.
The herald of joy on earth about the incarnation of the Son of God was the "incorporeal servant of the Lord" and together the chief and governor of the higher powers - the Archangel Gabriel. In the sixth month of belly-bearing by the righteous Elizabeth of St. John the Baptist, by God's will, he flew "from heavenly circles" to the Galilee city of Nazareth, where the Virgin Mary lived 3. God sent him to tell the Virgin about the strange image of her conception of the Son of God 4.
Appearing in Nazareth, the Archangel pondered about the impending miracle, about how the Incomprehensible and Incompatible God would fit into the virgin womb of the Most Pure Incomprehensible and Incompatible God, at the mere word of Her consent, 5 appeared to the Virgin, the Heavenly Messenger exclaimed: “Rejoice, Graceful, Blessed, rejoiced by God, The Lord is with You! Do not be terrified of me, Archangel of the Heavenly King. You have found grace from God, which Your foremother Eve lost. Through You, He, in His mercy, calls humanity to ancient bliss. Blessed is the immortal Fruit of Your womb, which brings purification to the world ”6. God has loved you from time immemorial and has delighted to choose you as your dwelling place. I, the Master's servant, declare to You that You will bear the Lord and remain incorruptible 7.
The Archangel's greeting confused the Most Pure Virgin. With surprise She said to the Messenger: “You appear to Me as a person, with incomprehensible words. I am a Virgo who does not know husband and marriage. Get far from Me. You will not deceive Me by saying that the Lord is with Me and will dwell in My womb. As I, the Young Woman, will conceive the Vast and Incompatible, as I will be the Mother of My Creator 8 and a vast place for the Superior Cherubim. I have nothing to do with marriage, I have not known sweets. How can I give birth to a Son? " 9
“All-pure,” answered the Archangel, “Your statement in purity is joyful to me. But incline Thy ears and listen to me. My broadcast is not seduction. The image of Your conception is higher than the word and meaning and is verbally inexpressible. The Holy Spirit will find on you and, overshadowing with creative power, will make conception 10. You will give birth to an unrelated Son, He will keep Your virginity intact ”11.
Without leaving her embarrassment, the Most Holy One asked the person who had appeared: “Not a single virgin has ever given birth unconditionally. God gave people the law of birth from common love. Are you talking about seduction? I am afraid of Your strange greeting for fear of sinful inclination. My foremother, once adopting the mindset of a serpent, was expelled for this from the use of Divine food ”12.
“Most blameless,” the Archangel continued his speech. “I, who stand before God, have been sent to tell You the words of the Divine Council. Why are you afraid of me, who fears you more and reveres you? The Eternal Word - the Creator will descend on You, like rain on a fleece. You will receive Him into the womb and will immutably bear Him with flesh. The unopened bush, upon accepting the flame, revealed the secret of Your stay pure by birth. Let the blood of Abraham teach You now. Having embraced God, from afar he typified Your God-pleasing womb. Where God wants, the order of the natural life of man is conquered ”13.
“I,” said the Most Pure Archangel, “heard the prophet speaking in antiquity about the birth of Immanuel by a certain sacred Virgin, I want to understand how human nature will bear the dissolution of the Divine and how, with the incorruption of My purity, the Ethereal Word will be born with flesh?” 14 “Pure,” the Archangel continued, “God promised the forefather Abraham to bless the nations in his seed. Today this promise comes to an end through You. Also, Thy forefather David was promised from above to plant the Fruit of Thy womb on the throne of his kingdom. God chose You, the Beauty of Jacob, to the village of the Word. I see You, Bride of God, with a multi-lighted candle, a God-arranged palace, a golden ark. Accept the Giver of the Law, who has deigned through You to save and recreate a human being. Believe this message like a thing. All the fullness of the Godhead will dwell in You bodily through the grace of the Everlasting Father and the assistance of the Holy Spirit ”15.
Reassured by the Archangel's explanation, the Most Holy One said: “I accept your joyful words, Gabriel! Let it be Me now according to your word. May God dwell in Me and in the birth of the Ethereal, borrowing flesh from Me, so that the One Strong may raise a person to his initial dignity ”16. "God! Cleanse my soul and sanctify my body. Create Me an animate Church and Your decorated tabernacle, uniting a material body with an immaterial Light ”17.
The Virgin Mary's expression of obedience to God in the words “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Be Me according to Thy word ”18 - was the moment of Her conception of the Son of God. The Holy Spirit flowed into the Most Immaculate One, and the power of the Most High overshadowed Her being. At this moment, the Son of God entered the pre-cleansed and virgin womb.
"Which terrible secret the stay of the Incompatible in girlish lodges and self-limitation by the time of the Supertemporal! " 19 In the conception of the Incarnate God, the Blessed Virgin Mary rose above the corruptible maternal nature, surpassed the order of his life. She clearly for the whole world was the upper step of the Jacob ladder, on which God was affirmed, according to the vision of the patriarch Jacob.
With these words, the church service outlines the reasons for common Christian joy on the day of the Annunciation. This holiday is a remembrance of the indescribable wealth of God's goodness, when the grace of God overshadowed a human being in the person of the Virgin Mary, deified him by uniting with him and created him as the Church of God.
Christ our God from the delighted Mother of God took a nature similar to ours, excluding sin, and raised it to Himself. “He perceived,” as Theophanes, Metropolitan of Nicaea put it, “the worst, in order to present the best” 20. Once the first man on earth, Adam was deceived, desiring to be God, and did not achieve the fulfillment of his desire. But God the Word incarnate, having become a man, was pleased to make Adam a god.
On the day of the Annunciation, human nature emerged from the enslavement of sin and bondage to an oath that weighed upon people since the time of the ancestral fall. The Son of God then began the restoration of her fall by accepting Adam's poverty, putting on a nature alien to Him 21 for the salvation of people.
1 Annunciation, Great Vespers, 1st stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"
2 Small Vespers, 1st stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"
3 Small Vespers, 3rd stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"; Great Vespers, 3rd stichera on lithium
4 Small Vespers, 4th stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"
5 Great Vespers, 4th stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"
6 Small Vespers, 1st and 3rd stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"
7 Small Vespers, 1st verse stichera; matins, 1st praiseworthy stichera
8 Small Vespers, 2nd stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"; matins, canon, 1st canto, 3rd troparion
9 Great Vespers, 2nd stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"
10 Matins, canon, 3rd canto, 2nd troparion; 1st canto, 4th troparion; Canto 8, Troparion 2 and 4
11 Small Vespers, 3rd verse stichera
12 Matins, canon, 3rd canto, 3rd troparion; 5th canto, 1st and 3rd troparion; 8th canto, 3rd troparion
13 Great Vespers, 3rd stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"; matins, canon, 3rd canto, 4th troparion; sedated for 3rd canto; Theotokos sedalen according to the 3rd canto; 4th canto, 2nd and 4th troparion.
14 Canon, 3rd Canto, 1st and 3rd Troparion
15 Canon, 5th Ode, 4th Troparion; 6th canto, 4th troparion; 7th canto, 4th troparion; Canto 8, Troparion 2; Great Vespers, 3rd stichera on lithium
16 Great Vespers, 3rd stichera on "Lord, I have cried out"; matins, canon, 6th canto, 1st troparion; 8th canto, 5th troparion
17 Matins, Canon, 7th Canto, 1st and 3rd Troparion
18 Lk. 1, 38
19 Matins, Canon, Canto 9, 1st, 2nd and 3rd troparia; 3rd praise stichera.
Dear parishioners, congratulations on the holiday!
On April 7, the Church celebrates the day of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos - one of the 12 main (twelve) holidays in the Orthodox calendar.
Annunciation means "good" or "good" news. On this day, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced to her the impending birth of Jesus Christ - the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
This is the day of the salvation of our leader, / and even from the age of the sacrament the phenomenon: / The Son of God, the Son of the Virgin is, / and Gabriel preaches the good news.
Translation: On this day of our salvation, the beginning of the eternal sacrament, the appearance: the Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin and Gabriel preaches the gospel of grace. Therefore, we too will cry to the Mother of God: "Rejoice, Blessed One, the Lord is with You!"
Kontakion to the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, Tone 8
The victorious Voivode, / as freed from the wicked, / grateful we will write Thy servant, Mother of God, / but, as having an invincible holding, / free from all sorts of troubles, let us call the mother.
Translation: To the Warlord defending us, for deliverance from terrible troubles, we institute for You triumphs of victory, grateful, we, Your servants, Mother of God! But Thou, as one who has an invincible power, free us from all dangers, but we cry to Thee: "Rejoice, Bride who did not know marriage!"
The meaning of the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh:
“The Annunciation is the day of the good news that a Virgin was found all over the human world, so believing in God, so deeply capable of obedience and trust, that the Son of God could be born from Her. The incarnation of the Son of God, on the one hand, is the work of God's love - on the cross, affectionate, saving - and God's power; but at the same time, the incarnation of the Son of God is a matter of human freedom. St. Gregory Palamas says that the Incarnation would be just as impossible without the free human consent of the Mother of God, as it would be impossible without the creative will of God. And on this day of the Annunciation, we contemplate the Virgin in the Mother of God, Who with all her heart, with all her mind, with all her soul, with all her strength, managed to trust God to the end.
And the good news was truly terrible: the appearance of an Angel, this greeting: Blessed are you in women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, could not but cause not only amazement, not only trembling, but also fear in the soul of a virgin who did not know her husband - like this could be?..
And here we catch the difference between the wavering - albeit deep - faith of Zechariah, the father of the Forerunner, and the faith of the Mother of God. Zechariah is also announced that his wife will have a son - naturally, despite her advanced age; and his answer to this message of God: How can this be? This can't happen! How can you prove it? What assurance can you give me? .. Mother of God puts the question only this way: How can this happen to me - I am a virgin? .. And to the Angel's answer that it will be, She answers only with the words of total surrender of Herself into the hands of God; Her words: Behold, the Servant of the Lord; wake me up according to your verb ...
The word "slave" in our present usage speaks of enslavement; in the Slavic language, a man who gave his life, his will to another, called himself a slave. And She really gave her life, her will, her destiny to God, accepting by faith - that is, with an incomprehensible trust - the news that She would be the Mother of the incarnate Son of God. About her, the righteous Elizabeth says: Blessed is she who believed, for what will be said to her from the Lord ...
In the Mother of God we find an amazing ability to trust God to the end; but this ability is not natural, not natural: such a belief can be forged in oneself by the deed of purity of heart, by the deed of love for God. Feat, for the fathers say: Shed blood and you will receive the Spirit ... One of the Western writers says that the Incarnation became possible when the Virgin of Israel was found, Her.
Here is the gospel that we have now heard in the Gospel: the human race gave birth, brought God as a gift, the Virgin, Who was able in Her royal human freedom to become the Mother of the Son of God, who freely gave Himself for the salvation of the world. Amen".
Past materials
- City of the Annunciation, 04/07/2018, Tatiana Soboleva —
… The Angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a husband named Joseph from the house of David; the name of the Virgin: Mary. The Angel, coming in to Her, said: Hail, Blessed One! The Lord is with You; blessed are you among women (Luke 1, 26-28). - Annunciation, how to find unshakable joy? 10.04.2017, Prot. Yaroslav Ivanov —
Festive sermon by Archpriest Yaroslav Ivanov
"This day of our salvation is our priority." From these words, with which the troparion of the feast of the Annunciation begins, it becomes clear: it is this event, and not the Nativity of Christ, as some say offhand, that lays the foundation for our path to salvation. Nine months before the birth of Christ, on April 7, the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated. The events of the holiday are as follows: in the cell to the Mother of God, still a very young girl, the Archangel Gabriel appears, who informs Mary that She is to become the Mother of God. - Annunciation, 04/06/2016, Irina Vysokovskaya —
The Annunciation is one of the most joyful holidays of the year. The very word “good news” tells us about a special joy, like the whole Gospel, - which from the Greek language also means “good news”; and even the ringing of the church is called "evangelism": it means that people are summoned to them for a joyful divine service. And to this - we had a good custom: on this day, let the birds out of their cages. The service on this day is not an abbreviated liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and not a long liturgy of St. Basil the Great, but the usual one - St. John Chrysostom. Fasting is permitted - in the sense that it is permitted to eat fish; another time in Great Lent it is allowed only for the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem. At the meal, in general, “there is a consolation for the brethren of greatness: we eat fish, we drink wine, it will happen on a cue or day” during fasting.
However, on Holy Week, in the first four days, permission is given "for oil and wine tochu"; and on Good Friday - only for wine; and "we eat dry food": usually on this day the monks do not eat or even drink anything ...
Of course, “Open your repentance ...” is never sung: the time is not penitential, but only joyful ... Annunciation ...
Ringing - "at all grave."
So the Church rejoices!
Video. Annunciation. Studio Neophyte
The Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos (March 25, old style) is one of the most important holidays of the entire church year. It can be called both Lord and Theotokos at the same time, since it combines a celebration in honor of the Incarnation with the remembrance of the gospel of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin. Special meaning has even the date of the holiday itself - already the authors of the III century sshmch. Hippolytus of Rome (In Dan. IV. 23) and Tertullian (Adv. Jud. 8) called March 25 the date of the Crucifixion of Christ according to the Roman calendar; in the writings of St. Athanasius of Alexandria (PG. 28. Col. 632) says that March 25 is both the day of the creation of man and the day of the Incarnation; finally, in the so-called Byzantine era, adopted after the 7th century in the Orthodox Church, March 25 is considered the date of the Resurrection of Christ according to the Roman calendar. That is why, in the event of the coincidence of the Annunciation with Easter, the holiday of Christ receives the name Kiriopashi, that is, “true, correct [ie. that is, correct not only according to the lunar, but also according to the Roman calendar - D. M. Zh.] Easter "(from the Greek. To kyrion Pasha, but not Pascha Kyriou; see: D. Lebedev, priest. Why is Easter on March 25 called "Kiriopasha"? // Theological Bulletin. Sergiev Posad, 1905. T. 2. No. 5. S. 118-128).
But the Annunciation can coincide not only with Easter, but also with many other days of the moving circle. In most cases, the Annunciation falls on one of the ordinary Lenten days, therefore the normative charter of the Annunciation services in the Typikon describes just such a case. Cases of coincidence of the Annunciation with various special days of the Triodi are regulated by a special section of the Typicon - the Annunciation Chapters. V this year the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos fell on Great Saturday, therefore, during the divine service on this day, one should be guided by the corresponding Annunciation chapter: “On the same feast [Annunciation - D. M. Zh.], if it happens on Great Saturday. " This article is devoted to the question of how the content of this chapter has changed in the history of Orthodox worship.
Like other Annunciation chapters, the indication of the coincidence of the Annunciation with Great Saturday in the Byzantine tradition was first recorded in Typicon of the Great Church, the monument of the Constantinople cathedral service of the IX-XI centuries. (Le Typicon de la Grande Église: Ms. Saint-Croix n. 40, Xe siècle / Introd., Texte critique, trad. Et notes par J. Mateos. R. 1962. T. 1. (OCA; 165). P. 256). It says here that the divine service in this case must be performed in the same way as when the Annunciation coincides with Maundy Thursday, namely: D. M. Zh.] ... lithium comes out and ascends to the Forum, and goes to the Chalcoprate [one of the main temples of the Theotokos of Constantinople - D. M. Zh.], and there the singers sing: "Glory ... and now ..." - and immediately the Trisagion, the prokeimenon, the Apostle, Alilluia, the Gospel, augmented and supplicating litany and "Let us go out in peace." Vespers, paremias (after the first of which the Patriarch of Constantinople went to the baptistery to teach the catechumens of the sacrament of Baptism, and during the latter he returned with the newly baptized to the church and, when they entered, anointed them with holy myrrh), liturgical readings and the liturgy of St. Basil the Great were celebrated in the church of St. Sophia in due time. In other words, in the ancient cathedral practice of Constantinople, when the Annunciation coincided with Great Saturday, a procession of the cross was performed in honor of the Annunciation (the festive procession was one of the main liturgical features of the feast of the Annunciation in the Byzantine tradition) along the streets of the city and the liturgy of the catechumens - without the liturgy of the faithful - in the Chalcoprate Church ... Thus, the liturgical readings of the Annunciation and Great Saturday were distributed among independent services and sounded in different time in different temples; and about how the hymnography of these most important days of the year was connected (if connected), the Typicon of the Great Church says nothing.
But already in the modern Typicon of the Great Church of the Studian Synaxar - the post-iconoclastic liturgical charter of the Constantinople monasteries - it is described how exactly to combine the hymnographic texts of the Annunciation and Great Saturday (the sets of which in the Byzantine tradition were already basically formed and had a form close to that which is contained in the currently accepted in the Orthodox Church of the Menaion and Triodi) during Vespers on Good Friday evening, Matins on the night of Good Friday to Great Saturday and Vespers on Great Saturday evening, as well as the order in which the Annunciation and Great Saturday liturgical readings follow each other within the same service.
The revision of the Studio Synaxarum, which is closest to the original text, is preserved in the so-called Studio-Aleksievsky Typikon 1034, which has come down to us only in the Slavic translation (see: Pentkovsky A.M. Typicon of Patriarch Alexy Studite in Byzantium and Russia. M., 2001). As in the Typicon of the Great Church, the service of the Annunciation on Great Saturday is proposed to be performed here by analogy with the charter of the connection of the Annunciation succession with the service of Great Thursday. The general order is, therefore, as follows. At Vespers on Good Friday: stichera of the day (ie Great Saturday) and the holiday (ie the Annunciation), "Glory ... and now ..." - the holiday; there is an entrance with the Gospel; the couples of the day and the holiday are read (as you know, in the Constantinople post-iconoclastic lectionary, the Annunciation has 5 paremias - 3 general Theotokos and 2 special ones, Ex. 3.1b - 8a and Proverbs 8.22-30, prophesying about the Incarnation; only 3 general Theotokos are read here ); the chanting "May it be corrected ..." follows; the Apostle and the Gospel of the day are read and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is performed (in the ancient practice of Constantinople, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was always celebrated on Good Friday). On Holy Saturday morning: on “God the Lord” - the troparion of the feast and the troparion of the day (“Good-looking Joseph”); after the kathisma (it should be noted that the famous praises of Great Saturday were not yet in the statutes of the Studian tradition - they appear only in the Jerusalem charter, and even then not immediately - the kathisma was sung with the usual chorus "Alleluia") - the sedals of the holiday and the day; then - sedate, prokeimen, "Every breath" and the Gospel of the holiday; after the 50th psalm, the canons of the holiday and the day (3 songs each - the kontakion of the day, 6 songs each - the kontakion of the holiday); on the praises of the stichera of the holiday and the day; readings at the end of Matins - Holy Saturday. In the afternoon on Great Saturday, a procession of the cross should be performed. At Vespers on Holy Saturday: the stichera of the day and the holiday, "Glory ... and now ..." - the holiday; there is an entrance with the Gospel; the first part of the day is read, and then - 2 special holiday parts and, finally, the remaining part of the day; after the Lesser Litany - "Elitsy is baptized into Christ" (this feature of the Great Saturday service, associated with its baptismal character, is specially noted as the difference between the statute of the conjunction of the Annunciation with Great Saturday from the statute of its conjunction with Great Thursday); proxy name of the day; The Apostle and the Gospel - Feast and Day; the liturgy of St. Basil the Great (Ibid. Pp. 337-339).
In general, the same charter for the connection of the succession of the Annunciation with the service of Great Saturday is also given in two derivatives from the original edition of the Studian charter - the Athos-Italian (represented by the Typicon of St. George Mtatsmideli, compiled on Athos around 1042 and a number of Greek South Italian Typicons, among of which the oldest surviving one is the Messinian Typicon of 1131) and Asia Minor (represented by the liturgical Synaxaries of the Evergetida Monastery (compiled around the 80s of the 11th century) and the Monastery of Christ the Human Lover (compiled at the beginning of the 12th century)). Differences from the instructions of the Studio-Aleksievsky Typicon are small: in the Typicon of St. George Mtatsmideli (Kekelidze K., prot. Liturgical Georgian Monuments in Domestic Book Depositories and Their Scientific Significance. Tiflis, 1908, p. 259) they boil down to the fact that on "God the Lord" the troparion of the day "Precious Joseph" precedes the troparion of the feast, and a different order of reading the biblical Annunciation conceptions: firstly, the pariahs of the feast are read only at Vespers on Good Friday (but not on Holy Saturday); secondly, at the liturgy of Great Saturday, the Apostle of the feast follows the Apostle of the day, singing before the Gospel only "Rise, God ..." In the Gospel readings it is said: "The Gospel:" On Saturday evening ... ". After this Gospel, the exclamation: "Wisdom, forgive me!" V Messinian Typicon (Arranz M. Le Typicon du monastère du Saint-Sauveur à Messine: Codex Messinensis gr. 115, A. D. 1131. R., 1969. (Orientalia Christiana Analecta; 185). P. 141-142) among the differences - only the prescription to sing instead of kathisma at matins three festive antiphons (here - Ps 44, 71 and 148; replacing morning kathisma with antiphons on holidays is a common feature of the Athos-Italian branch of the Studian charter; later it influenced the appearance the so-called selected psalms), as well as the additional detail given in the Typicon: "On praises ... to" Glory ... "- self-agreed of the day, on" And now ... "-" Blessed art thou ... ""; the instructions about the troparions on "God the Lord" and about the liturgical readings on Holy Saturday completely coincide with what was said in the Typicon of St. Georgy Mtatsmideli. V Evergetid Synaxar (Dmitrievsky A.A. Description of liturgical manuscripts stored in the libraries of the Orthodox East. T. 1: Typika. K., 1895. S. 439-441) the instructions differ from those contained in the Studio-Aleksievsky Typicon in a greater degree of detail (for example, only here it is said about the abolition of the Gospel and other conceptions on the clock of Good Friday and the reading of the clock in cells; indicated incipita praises of all the stichera (in particular, on "And now ..." for praises - not "Blessed art ...", but the stichera of the day "Who is dressed for you ...")); of the differences - the singing of the monastic pannykhis (a service that should not be confused with the cathedral pannykhis; on the basis of the monastery pannykhis, the ranks of the general prayer service and panikhida subsequently arose) before matins (on pannykhis - canons for the Lament of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Annunciation (prefeast or sacrifice)); the same order of the troparia for "God the Lord", as in the Athos-Italian Typicons; an indication of three verses at matins (it is unclear whether we are talking about three different kathismas or three statues of the immaculate), and after the first and second verses - the sedals of the holiday, after the third - the sedals of the day; an unusual (in comparison with other statutes) order of the canons at the morning: the canon of the day precedes the canon of the holiday; the paremias are read in the same way as in the Studio-Aleksievsky Typicon (that is, three common Theotokos - at Vespers on Good Friday; two Annunciation - after the first pair at Vespers on Great Saturday); the prokeimenon at the liturgy is only for the day ("Raise, God ..." is also not combined with the alleluiary), and the Apostle and the Gospel - for both the holiday and the day (unfortunately, the Typicon does not say anything about the order of their succession).
V Jerusalem Charter, which - contrary to its name - is not directly related to the ancient Jerusalem divine service, but is a reworking of the original and Asia Minor editions of the Studian Synaxar made in Palestine, the instructions on the order of combining the services of the Annunciation and Great Saturday originally completely coincided with the prescriptions of the original edition of the Studian Synaxar. Thus, in one of the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Jerusalem Rite, Sinait. gr. 1094, XII century. ( Lossky A. Le Typicon byzantine: édition d'une version grecque (partiellement inédite); analyze de la partie liturgique: Diss. P., 1987. T. 2. P. 203-205), for the case of the coincidence of the Annunciation with Great Saturday, a reference is given to the charter of the connection of the succession of the Annunciation with the service of Great Thursday - just like in the Studio-Alexiev Typicon - and this charter in everything coincides (with the exception of the one and only additional indication about the glorious man on "Lord I have cried" on Good Friday) with the instructions of the original edition of the Studian synaxarum (including even the preserved (perhaps due to inattention) order to perform the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on the eve of the Annunciation - despite the fact that, according to the main text of the Jerusalem Rite, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is no longer performed on Good Friday). The same picture is observed in the Shio-Mgvim Typikon - the Georgian version of the Divnogorsk edition of the Jerusalem charter of the 12th century. - of the differences in comparison with the original edition of the Studios Synaxarum, here only the glorious of the day are indicated on all the stichera (in "And now ..." - everywhere the holiday), and in the morning the canon of the holiday follows the canon of the day; otherwise, the instructions coincide - including the instructions for inserting two Annunciation paremias after the first pariah of Great Saturday, and instructions for liturgical readings (the prokeimenon - only for the day; the Apostle and the Gospel - first the holiday, then the day).
V later editions of the Jerusalem Rite a new difficulty arises in combining the Annunciation with Great Saturday - on the one hand, in the XIII-XIV centuries. choruses - "praises" are added to the innocent on the morning of Great Saturday; on the other hand, to polyeleos (which by this time had become an absolutely integral part of the festive Matins - including the Matins of the Annunciation) from the 13th-14th centuries. certain selected psalms and choruses-magnificence could be added; therefore, the problem arose of combining the innocent with praises and polyeleos with the chosen psalm and magnificence. This problem could be solved in different ways: for example, in the first printed Greek edition of the Typicon (Venice, 1545), where the instructions on combining the sequences of the Annunciation and Great Saturday are basically the same as in the oldest editions of the Jerusalem Rite (and, therefore, about the same the same as in the original edition of the Studios Synaxarum), it is prescribed to sing the polyeleos at matins, but nothing is said about the innocent. On the other hand, in the Russian manuscript statutes of the 15th-17th centuries. (for example, RSL. TSL. main. 239, XV century; 240, XV century; 241, mid. XVI century; 246, early XVII century.) on the morning of Great Saturday, if this day coincides with the feast of the Annunciation The virgin is ordained to sing both blameless and polyeleos. The text of the corresponding chapter in these manuscripts is practically unchanged (the difference concerns only the instructions about the liturgical Apostle on Great Saturday - the Statutes of the RSL. TSL. Os. 239, 240 and 241 prescribe the reading of the Apostle of the day and the holiday, and the Statute of the RSL. TSL. Os. 246 - only Apostle of the Day) and is reproduced in the same form in the first printed Russian edition of the Typikon (Moscow, 1610), prepared by the priest of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Longinus (Cow) (here, as in the RSL. TSL. on Great Saturday only the Apostle of the day. ”The omission of the apostolic conception of the Annunciation can be justified by the fact that this reading - Heb. 2: 11-18 - is read not only during the liturgy of the feast days of the Annunciation and the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos, but also after the rite that became very widespread in a later era small water consecration).
Charter of uniting the sequences of the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos and Great Saturday according to the edition of the Jerusalem charter adopted now in the Russian Orthodox Church almost completely coincides with that described in the Typicon of 1610; there are only five differences: the option of the service with the performance of an all-night vigil is not provided (the first printed charter allowed, if desired, to sing the Annunciation Vespers on Good Friday, and to combine Great Friday Vespers with the Matins of Great Saturday (in this case, “Blessed is the husband” and lithium with the Annunciation stichera); in the modern Typicon these instructions are omitted); according to the ninth canon of the Matins canon, an instruction appeared to sing a double katavasia - both from the canon of the day (irmos) and from the canon of the holiday (refrain and irmos); not specified incipita most of the glavniks (for example, in praise, the old-printed Typicon made it possible to make a choice between “Ask Joseph ...” and “This [day] secretly ...”; the post-reform Typicon simply says: “Glory ...” - the day); the liturgical Apostle - both of the day and of the holiday; omitted instructions for the liturgical "Rise, God ..." and the Gospels. The text of the charter (the text is slightly Russified and accompanied by some comments) is as follows: “ On Friday evening at the 10th hour of the day, signifies in the great, and in all grievous, and we sing Vespers. On “Lord I have cried out”: stichera are self-agreed for 6 days, and for 4 days for the holiday. “Glory…” - for the day, “And now…” - for the holiday. Entrance with the Gospel. “Quiet Light”. Prokeimenon, and the reading of the day and the holiday 5 (NOTE: thus, in the modern Russian Typicon, unlike the original edition of the Studian synaxarum, the general Theotokos and the special pairs of the Annunciation are not separated - D. M. Zh.). Same prokeimenon, apostle, halleluia, and gospel of the day. Therefore, the litany "Rtsem all". Also "May God grant this evening", "Let's perform the evening prayer." On the verse the stichera of the day with their refrains. "Glory ..." - the holiday, "And now ..." - the day. Also "Now let go". According to Trisvyatom: troparion of the holiday: "Glory ... and now" - "Good-looking Joseph". Priest: “Wisdom,” and let go. We sing Compline in the cell(NOTE: the omission of secondary daily services is typical for all statutes of the combination of the services of the Annunciation and Great Saturday; in particular, all editions of the Jerusalem statute prescribe that Compline should be read to the cells (or are generally silent about it); the canon for Lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos is also read from the cells or at all omitted - of all the statutes of the pre-press era, only the Evergetid Synaxarum speaks of the preservation of this canon, which is not surprising: the canon for the Lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos first appears in this statute - D. M. Zh.); kontakion of the day, "Glory ... and now ..." - a holiday. At 1 o'clock the night marks a great, and in all grievous, and we eat Matins. On “God the Lord” troparion of the day, voice 2: “Good-looking Joseph” (once), “When thou art descended to death” (once), “Glory ...” - “To the Myrrh-Bearing Wives”, “And now ...” - of the holiday: “Today our salvation ”. We also sing blameless, on voice 5. Kadit priest on the 1st glory, the same on the 2nd, and on the 3rd, as is the custom. After the death of the innocent, we sing the troparia on Sunday: "The Cathedral of the Angel ..." and so on. The litany is also small and sedan of the day. The same polyeleos, and the sedan of the holiday, and the reading of the holiday. Degree, 1st antiphon of the 4th voice. Holiday prokemen. "Every breath." The gospel of the holiday. Psalm 50, stichera of the holiday. The canon of the holiday with irmos at 8, irmos twice; and the day, with irmos at 8 (NOTE: thus, both canons must be sung with irmos, which clearly separates them from each other: irmos of the canon of the holiday and the troparia of the canon of the holiday, then irmos of the canon of the day and troparia of the canon of the day - - D. M. Zh.). Katavasia - Irmos of the day, both faces together. According to the 3rd canto: kontakion and ikos of the day; and the sedan of the day, "Glory ... and now ..." - the holiday; and reading the holiday. On the 6th canto: kontakion and ikos of the holiday; Prologue, and synaxarium. We don't sing the 9th song "The Most Honest", but we sing the chorus of the holiday, as indicated. At the end of the 9th canto - irmos of the day: “Do not weep for Me, Mati”, the same chorus of the holiday and irmos. “Holy is the Lord our God” on voice 2. The feast shines twice. On the praises: three self-voiced stichera of the day and three are like a holiday, the same self-signed holiday, voice 8: "Let the heavens rejoice ...", with a refrain: "Announce from the day the salvation of our God"; "Glory ..." - of the day, "And now ..." - "Blessed art the Virgin Mary ...". The doxology is great, and there is an entrance, as it was written in the Triodion. Therefore, the prokemen and the days of the day. Prokemen, Apostle, Alleluia and the Gospel - of the day. Litany and dismissal; and at 1 o'clock we eat in the vestibule. Other watches sung in due time. On the clock: the troparion of the holiday and day; kondaki is a verb dismissive. Blessed with a verb soon, without singing. "Remember us, Lord ..." and so on. According to "Our Father": kontakion of the day, "Glory ... and now ...: - a holiday. “Lord, have mercy” (40 times) and prayer: “All-Holy Trinity ...”, and release. On Holy and Great Saturday evenings, about the 10th hour, it marks the great, and all the hardest. And going to church, I will bless the priest, we will sing Vespers according to custom, without kathisma. On “Lord I have cried”: stichera are resurrected three, voice 1: “Our evening prayers ...”, and Great Saturdays are self-agreed three, voice 8, and holidays for four; "Glory ..." - of the day, voice 6: "The day is secret ..."; "And now ..." - a holiday: "Sent by ...". Entrance with the Gospel. “Quiet Light”. Prokeimenon is not a verb, but the abie priest says: “Wisdom,” and the readings of the day are according to their order. At the end of the reading: a small litany and an exclamation. And we sing instead of Trisvyatago: “Elitsy were baptized into Christ. Alleluia ". Prokimen of the day and holiday. Apostle of the day and holiday. (NOTE: The omission of instructions on the liturgical Gospels is more than noticeable). Instead of the cherubic song, it is sung: “Let all flesh be silent” - and in a row the Divine Liturgy of the Great Basil. Instead of “Worthy”, we sing irmos: “Don't weep for Me, Mother”; in the Church of the Annunciation of the Theotokos we sing irmos: "Like an animated ark of God." He participates in the day and the holiday. "
Almost the same charter as in the Russian editions of the Jerusalem charter is given in the "Typikon" prot. George of Riga, authoritative Greek setter 1st floor. XX century (2nd ed .: Thessaloniki, 1994). The differences consist only in the choice of the glorious among some groups of stichera; in the number of troparia of the Matins canon (the canon of the holiday is sung at 6, not 8) and the number of stichera for praises (self-agreed days - by 4, not 3; the stichera of the Annunciation have not one, but two additional verses); in the choice of the liturgical prokimna (only for the day). Extremely interesting statutes of the connection of the Annunciation with Great Saturday are contained in the handwritten cathedral Typicons of the Athonite monasteries XVIII-XIX centuries, which until now govern the liturgical life of the Holy Mountain. So, in the cathedral Typicons of Dionysiates (one of the most authoritative on Athos) and Philotheus (based on the Typicon of Dionysiates), Xenophon and Kostamonite (based on the Typicon of Xenophon), for the case of coincidence of the Annunciation with Great Saturday, an all-night vigil is envisaged - as in the Russian pre-Nikon Typicon. On Good Friday, in this case, two Vespers are served.- but, unlike the Russian pre-Nikon practice, this is not a separate small Vespers of the Annunciation and the Great Vespers of the Annunciation and Good Friday, performed as part of the all-night vigil, but the full Vespers of Great Friday (according to the Athonite Typicons, it is served entirely according to the usual rite of Good Friday; from Annunciation hymns here - only a stichera on "And now ..." on "Lord I have cried" (according to the Dionysian Typicon on "Lord I have cried", the Annunciation stichera are also sung from Little Vespers) and a sticheron on "Glory ..." on a verse) and performed as part of the all-night vigil great Vespers of the Annunciation (all hymns - only the Annunciation; Prokeimenon: "Who is Great God ..."; according to the Typicons of Xenophon and Costamonite - but not Philotheus - the all-night vigil is preceded by a small Compline with the canon for the Lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos; The Dionysian Typicon mentions the performance of Compline but does not speak of canon). In the morning(as part of the same vigil) for “God the Lord”: two troparions of the day (“Handsome Joseph” and “To the Myrrh-Bearing Women”) and twice the troparion of the feast; blameless with the praises of Great Saturday (the polyeleos, according to the Typicons of Xenophon and Costamonitus, is omitted; according to the Typicons of Dionysiates and Philotheus, it is sung after the blameless, the troparion "Angelic Cathedral ...", the small litany and sedals - the same as in the Russian Typicons); sedate, prokeimenon, "Every breath", the Gospel and stichera according to Psalm 50 - Annunciation; canon - on 16 (holiday with irmos at 8 and days with irmos at 8), katavasia from both canons - not only in 9, but in all songs; the instructions for chants for the 3rd, 6-1 and 9th canons of the canon are practically the same as in the Russian Typicons; to praise the stichera for 6 (that is, without an additional verse), "Glory ..." - the day (Typicon Filofeu: "The day is secret ..."; Typicons of Xenophon and Kostamonit: "Ask Joseph ..."; The Dionysian Typicon prescribes to sing the glorious holiday) , "And now ..." - the holiday: "May the heavens rejoice ..." (but not "Blessed art ..."; Dionysian Typicon prescribes to sing "Blessed art ..."); the end of Matins - according to modern Greek practice, with three rounds of the temple with the Gospel and the Shroud, etc. Vespers and Liturgy on Holy Saturday in the Typicons of Xenophon, Kostamonit and Dionysiates - practically the same as in the Russian Typicons (but according to the Typicons of Xenophon and Kostamonite, the stichera on "Lord I have called" are not 3 Sundays, 3 days and 4 holidays, but 4 Sundays, 3 days and 3 holidays) , whereas according to Typicon Philotheus, when the Annunciation coincides with Great Saturday, the liturgy is served not at Vespers, but at its usual time (at 3 o'clock in the afternoon; the transfer of the liturgy from Vespers to the usual morning time is due to the fact that Catholicon Philotheu is dedicated to the Annunciation); at the liturgy - pictorial antiphons and blessed from the canon of the holiday; holiday entry verse; readings - as in Russian Typicons. Vespers of Great Saturday is served in the evening; the order of chanting the stichera in "Lord I have cried" is the same as in the Typicons of Xenophon and Kostamonit; after the paremias - "Rtsem vsi" and other subsequent vespers (stichera on the verse - only the feast; at the end of vespers - three times the troparion of the feast and release). As adopted in modern Greek parish and conciliar practice "Typicon of Christ's Great Church", compiled by protopsultist George Violakis, which - despite the name - is a special edition of the Jerusalem charter (but not the ancient cathedral Typicon of the Great Church), if the Annunciation coincides with Great Saturday, the holiday is simply postponed to Easter: this was already done in the Typicon of Protopsalt Constantine (Constantinople, 1838), on which the Typicon of George Violakis is based.
So, the charter of the connection of the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos with Great Saturday in the Byzantine and post-Byzantine traditions has been developed in great detail. The basic principles of this union were laid down a thousand years ago and represent, albeit a small, but valuable part of the diverse and richest liturgical heritage of the Orthodox Church. They should be guided in the performance of the divine service on this day - in the form in which they are presented in the accepted in the Russian Orthodox Church and approved by its hierarchy back in late XVII century Typicon (you can also pay attention to the possibility of performing an all-night vigil in the case of the coincidence of the Annunciation with Great Saturday and to the charter of such a vigil and Vespers of Good Friday in the cathedral Typicons currently accepted in the practice of Athos monasteries in the Russian pre-Nikon Typicons; probably, the use of this charter could would be especially appropriate in churches dedicated to the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos). The main problem makes up the order of reading the Gospel at the liturgy of Great Saturday, about which in the Typicon now adopted in the Russian Orthodox Church nothing not said. The problem here is that the reading of the Gospel of the holiday after the Gospel of the day will contradict the order of the Sacred history - in this case, after the story of the Resurrection of Christ (the Gospel of Great Saturday), the story of the Annunciation will sound, which actually happened not after, but before the Resurrection. The Rite avoids cases of violation of the order of events in the Sacred History - as an example, we can cite the instruction of the Typicon and the Colored Triodion that on weekdays of the Pentecostal period, first Sunday hymns are sung and after them - days, but on Wednesdays and Fridays, hymns of the day (of the Cross) are sung first. , and only then - the Resurrection: "Well, wake up, as on Wednesdays and heels are preceded by the stichera of the Cross ... if our Lord was crucified first, therefore He rose from the dead." Examples of reading at the liturgy of Great Saturday, if it coincides with the Annunciation, first the Gospel of the feast and only then the day, are contained in such important monuments of the history of Orthodox worship as the original edition of the Studios Synaxaris (according to the Studios-Alexiev Typicon, adopted in Russia before the end of the XIV c.) and the most ancient editions of the Jerusalem charter. However, this solution to the problem seems unsatisfactory for two reasons - it contradicts the instructions of the Russian pre-Nikon Typicons (on which the charter of the unification of the services of the Annunciation and Great Saturday in the modern Russian Typicon is based), but most importantly - it breaks the connection between the famous chant of Great Saturday “Rise, God ... ”And the great Gospel of the Resurrection of Christ following this hymn. The Gospel of the Resurrection, proclaimed by the deacon in snow-white vestments, is closely connected with the prayer chanting "Resurrect, God ..." that preceded him, during which the clergy replace the dark vestments of sorrow with the light vestments of joy. Therefore, the Gospel of the day must still be read before the Gospel of the holiday. But how, then, to solve the problem with the violation of the order of the presentation of the events of Sacred history? It seems that for this one could have recourse to the instructions of the Typicons of the Athonite-Italian edition of the Studian charter (especially since the Menaea and Triodi corresponding to this edition underlie the Old Russian Menaea and Triodeus of the Studian era): the first deacon reads the Gospel of the day, then an exclamation follows: "Wisdom, forgive me, we will hear ..." - and the second deacon (or priest) reads the Gospel of the Annunciation.
Deacon Mikhail Zheltov
Patriarchy.ru
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Both chronologically and in essence, the New Testament story begins not with the Nativity of Jesus Christ, but with His Mother - the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ancient written sources about Her life are unknown, and all information about the Virgin Mary is gleaned from oral tradition that existed in
the first Christian communities. This legend claims that the Virgin Mary came from the clan of David and was the daughter of the pious Joachim and Anna. The girl was a late child, given to them by the Lord in very advanced years by their fervent prayers, and therefore her parents perceived her birth as a great miracle and the mercy of God. Following Jewish custom, they decided to consecrate Her to God. In those days, many children were brought up at the church, and growing up, they bore certain duties and obedience here. At the age of three, baby Mary climbed the steps Jerusalem temple, entrusting Himself to the mercy of God.
The events of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and her introduction into the temple are for Christians great importance, and therefore the Church honored them with a particularly solemn celebration. As you know, the church year begins on September 1, and the first big New Year's holiday is the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos (21 September according to the new style). And on December 4 (according to the new style) the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the temple is celebrated.
We do not know anything about the early period of the life of the Virgin Mary. Having reached a certain age, She was betrothed to an elderly man named Joseph, a carpenter from the Galilean city of Nazareth. Joseph was not Mary's husband, but the betrothed and guardian of Her virginity, for a girl dedicated to God was to be pure and chaste.
Speaking about the fact that for the salvation of the human race God chose a special means - God-manhood, we have already emphasized that in this means, as it were, two principles are united. First of all, this is the Divine presence and Divine omnipotence, for it was only in the power of the Creator to put an end to the action of original sin, returning to humanity the grace that emanated from the Heavenly Father. Another component of salvation is the free will of man himself, for without his effective participation in the atonement of sin, salvation would not have the dignity of a voluntary choice. It was extremely important that the descendants of Adam and Eve would respond with their hearts to the call of God, answering Him: we agree to receive the salvation given by You, and are ready to participate with You in this mystery. This consent was pronounced by the Virgin Mary on behalf of the human race.
This event is called the Annunciation - in Greek "Evangelismus", that is, " Good news". Here is what the Gospel of Luke tells about the circumstances of the Annunciation:
“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a husband named Joseph, from the house of David; the name of the Virgin: Mary. The Angel, coming in to Her, said: Hail, Blessed One! The Lord is with You; blessed are you between wives. She, seeing him, was embarrassed by his words and wondered what kind of greeting it would be.
And the angel said to her: do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God; and behold, you will conceive in your womb, and you will bear a Son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and his kingdom will have no end.
Mary said to the Angel: How will it be when I do not know my husband? The Angel answered Her: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore, the Holy One being born will be called the Son of God. Here is Elisabeth, Thy relative, called barren, and she conceived a son in her old age, and she is already six months old, for with God no word will remain powerless.
Then Mary said: behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her ”(Luke 1: 26–38).
These words: “Behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word ”- not only express the gentle willingness of the Virgin Mary to accept what the Angel proclaimed to her, but also are a formula for the consent of the human race to work together with God in the matter of salvation.
This consent of the Virgin Mary should not be taken as limiting the freedom of people by Her personal will. Indeed, the Virgin Mary appears before God on behalf of the entire human race. However, the consent given by Her cannot be regarded as an encroachment on someone's freedom, for everyone who freely accepts Christ becomes an accomplice to the saving divine action personally, of his own free will and through his own effort. Thus, in the event of the Annunciation, our own freedom of choice is realized.
It is also known that some people are skeptical about the miracle of the seedless conception of an uninvolved Virgo. From the point of view of science and our human experience, seedless conception is impossible. But after all, God is the Creator of the world with its physical laws, and therefore the impossible for us is not impossible for Him. In this sense, our knowledge and ideas are conditional: when we say that something cannot be, we proceed from ideas and reality that are common to our human world. But, as Saint Andrew of Crete beautifully put it in his Great Penitential Canon, “God wants to, the nature is defeated: he works more and more wants to” (Theotokos of the 4th Canto).
Our attitude to the Annunciation, to the immaculate conception of the Most Holy Virgin of the Son of God should be characterized by one word: reverence. We should reverently believe that the Mother of God, according to St. Ambrose of Mediolana, even after conceiving in the womb, remained a Virgin, and after giving birth, remained a Virgin. This is the faith of the Church. As St. John Chrysostom says, "The Holy Spirit shone in a clean mirror, in the immaculate body of the Virgin, having formed a perfect Man not according to the law of nature ... not from a human seed, but ... inexplicably draining in it the Germ, like a kind of tissue, for the salvation of people."
The great Divine mystery hidden here does not reveal itself either in the human mind, or in knowledge, or in the imagination. It is possible to become a participant in it only by the power of faith, for the content, meaning and reality of this secret are revealed to us in religious experience.
In ancient times, the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos had several names: the Day of Greetings, the Beginning of Atonement, the Annunciation of the Angel to Mary, the Day of the Annunciation, the Feast of the Annunciation ... The modern name of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos became used only in the 7th century AD. In addition, there is an eastern tradition of the holiday (the names listed) and a western one (in Catholic Rome, the holiday was called as follows: Annunciation of St. Mary of Conception, Greetings to Mary, Annunciation of Christ, etc.). The Russian Orthodox Church officially names this day as follows: "The Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary." In Catholic countries, this holiday is now called "The Annunciation of the Lord Jesus Christ." In the Byzantine East, the holiday became official from the 6th century, in the Roman West - from the 7th.
In Russia, there was a custom to release pigeons and other birds to freedom during the Annunciation. Since ancient times, the white dove has represented peace and good news. In addition, the dove is a symbol of the blessed action of the Holy Spirit, and its snow-white wings are at the same time a symbol of the purity of the Virgin Mary herself. By tradition, the Church dedicates these birds to the Mother of God.
The Russian poet, writer, journalist Apollo of Corinth in 1901 described this ancient Russian tradition as follows: “From time immemorial, there has been a good custom in Russia to release birds from their cages about the Annunciation to their free will. It is observed everywhere: both in villages and in cities. This celebrates the arrival of spring warmth<…>In the cities for this day, poor people deliberately catch birds and bring them to the market in hundreds, releasing them for money, willingly given by merchants and all passers-by, remembering at the sight of chirping feathered captives of the tradition bequeathed by old times. However, the bird-catchers themselves remind everyone of this with their exclamations like: "Give a ransom for the birds - the birds will pray to God!"
In post-Soviet Russian history Orthodox Church this custom was revived in 1995, and today white doves are released into the sky after liturgy in many churches.
Interestingly, before the 1917 revolution, the birds that the patriarch released into the sky above the Kremlin's Annunciation Cathedral were bought on Okhotny Ryad. Today the pigeons produced by the patriarch are raised by the Sports Pigeon Federation. After these pigeons soar into the sky, after some time they gather in flocks and return to their nurseries.
Passion Week. Great Tuesday. Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The death of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (see service on September 26).
The service is performed according to the 13th Markov chapter of the Typicon on March 26: “About the same celebratory [Annunciation], even if it happens on Great Tuesday”.
Calendar notes:
Oil is allowed at the meal.
The service is performed according to the 13th Markov chapter of the Typikon on March 26: "About the same feast [of the Annunciation], if it happens on Great Tuesday."
Reading order, according to the calendar:
All-night vigil on the feast of the Annunciation consists of Great Compline with Litya, Matins and the 1st hour. According to the Charter, the service should begin “at the hour of the 1st night,” that is, according to our reckoning, at about 7 pm (see Typikon, March 26, 13th Markov chapter). Before it begins, there is a gospel and a ringing all hard.
The curtain and the royal gates are opened. The priest and the deacon create the beginning, as on all festivals with vigils, that is, first they cense the throne and the entire altar. The deacon with a candle comes to Solea and proclaims: "Bless, sir." Priest before the throne: "Blessed be our God ..." (while creating a cross with a censer). Chorus: "Amen." Reader: "Glory to Thee, our God ...", "Heavenly King" and so on, and reads great Compline... The priest proceeds from the altar in front of the deacon with a candle and performs a complete censing of the entire church, as at the beginning of the all-night vigil. At the end of the censing, the royal gates are closed. The veil remains open.
For the singing "God is with us ...", for the singing of the troparion and kontakion on the 1st and 2nd Trisvyat, according to tradition, the royal gates are opened.
According to the 1st Trisvyat - troparion of the Annunciation, voice 4th.
According to the 2nd Trisvyat - the kontakion of the Annunciation, voice 8.
According to "Glory to God in the highest ..." - access to the litiya.
Note. About the Triodi of St. Andrew of Crete (voice 8; cantos 2, 8 and 9), laid down for Compline on Great Monday evening, see note below.
On the litiya stichera of the Annunciation, voice 1st. "Glory, even now" - Annunciation, voice 2: "Gabriel is preaching the good news ...". Prayers of the lithium.
On the verse stichera of the Annunciation, voice 4 (with its own refrains). "Glory, and now" - Annunciation, the voice is the same: "Today is joy ...".
"Now let go ...". Trisagion. According to "Our Father ..." (with the blessing of loaves) - the troparion of the Annunciation, voice 4 (three times).
In the morning on "God the Lord" - troparion of the Annunciation, tone 4 (twice). "Glory, and now" is the same troparion.
Kathisms 9th, 10th and 11th.
According to the 1st verse, there is no small litany. Sedalen Triodi, voice 4: "Bridegroom, brethren ..." (see verse 1). "Glory, even now" is the sedal of the Triodi, the voice is the same: "Counsel, Spase, lawless ..." (see verse 2).
According to the second verse, there is no small litany. Sedaline Triodi, voice 8: "Judah's mind loves money ..." (see verse 3). "Glory, and now" - the same sedal.
According to the third verse - a small litany, the exclamation: "Like Thy power ...", or: "Like Good and Man-lover ...". Sedal of the Annunciation, voice 1st: "Great voivod ..." (see verse 2). “Glory, even now” is the sedal of the Annunciation, voice 3: “This day all creation rejoices ...” (see verse 3).
Polyeleos. The glorification of the Annunciation: "The Archangelic voice cry of Ty, Pure: Rejoice, Blessed One, the Lord is with You," and the chosen psalm. Small litany, exclamation: "For bless thy Name ...". Sedalen of the Annunciation by polyeleos, tone 4. "Glory, even now" is the inspiration of the Annunciation, the voice is the same. Stephenna is the 1st antiphon of the 4th voice. Prokemen of the Annunciation, voice 4: "Announce the day from the day / the salvation of our God"; verse: "Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth." The Gospel of the Annunciation - Luke, cred. 4 . According to the 50th psalm: "Glory" - "By the Prayers of the Theotokos ...", "And now" - the same verse. Stichera of the Annunciation, voice 2: "Gabriel is preaching the good news ...". Prayer: "Save, God, Thy people ...", "Lord, have mercy" (12). Priest: "By mercy and bounties ...". Singers: "Amen."
1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th canons - the canon of the Annunciation with irmos at 14 (irmos twice). Katavasia - Annunciation (irmos of the festive canon).
The 8th and 9th songs are the canon of the Annunciation with irmos at 6 (irmos twice) and the two-song Triodi, the creation of St. Cosmas, voice 2, on 8. Katavasia is the irmos of the two-song.
Note. For the singing of the canon of the Annunciation see the note of St. Afanasy (Sakharova) in Minea-March, part 2, p. 215-216. Biblical songs are not rhymed during Passion and Bright weeks. Chorus to the troparions of the canon of the Feast of the Annunciation - "Blessed a I am Bogor O dice, saved and US"; to the troparia of the two-song - chorus: "Sl a va teе́ , B O ours, sl a va teе́ » ; to the penultimate troparion in the song - "Glory" (in the 8th canto - "Bless and m Father a , and Cý on, and holy a yearу́ ha, g O spoda "), to the last -" And now. "
According to the 3rd canto - the Triodi kontakion, the 2nd voice: "Hour, to the soul, having thought of the end ...", and the ikos, the same voice: "What are you despondent, my soul ..."; sedal of the Annunciation, voice 8: "The Word of God ...". "Glory, even now" - is the sedan of the Annunciation, the voice is the same: "It was sent ...".
On the 6th canto - kontakion and ikos of the Annunciation, voice 8.
On the 9th canto - the usual censing. We do not sing the "most honest" one, but we sing the chorus of the Annunciation: "Evangelize, to the earth, joy to the great, praise, Heaven, I glorify God." To the troparia of the two-song chorus: "Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee." At the end of Canto 9: irmos of the two-song Triodi; the chorus of the feast of the Annunciation: "Evangelize, to the earth, joy to the great ...", and the irmos of the canon of the Annunciation: "Like an animated Divine kivot ...".
According to the 9th song "It is worthy to eat" is not sung. Small litany. Luminary of the Annunciation: "The Angelic forces of the Archangel ...". "Glory" is the exapostilary Triodi: "Thy devil ..."
Vespers (in conjunction with the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) it is performed "without kafizm, and without bows." The priest in the altar, standing before the throne, proclaims: "Blessed is the Kingdom ...", while he usually creates a cross over the throne with the Gospel. Singers: "Amen." Reader: “Come, let us worship” (three times) and the initial psalm. (The priest reads lamp prayers.) Great litany. There is no kathisma.
On "Lord, I have cried" stichera at 10: Triodion, voice 1st, voice 2nd, voice 4th and voice 6th - 5; and Annunciation, voice 4 - 5 (see in the Menaion on March 25 at Vespers on the very day of the feast in the evening; the first two stichera - twice) 17. "Glory" - Triodi, voice 7: "Behold the talant ...", "And now" - Annunciation, voice 6: "It was sent ...".
During the singing of the stichera on "Lord, I have cried out," the proskomedia ends. One Lamb is prepared on the proskomedia - for Great Wednesday.
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