Apodeipnon
Apodeipnon or Apodipnon ( Greek Ἀπόδειπνον ) denotes in the Byzantine rite of the Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Catholic Churches the hourly prayer , which is held at the end of the day (literally “after dinner”) before going to bed . The corresponding hour of the western church tradition is the Compline .
A distinction is made between two basic forms, the "Small Apodeipnon", which is used daily in monasteries , and the "Large Apodeipnon", which is held in some places in monasteries, but also in parish churches in connection with certain festivals and fasting times.
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The Little Apodeipnon
The Little Apodeipnon, is the Liturgy of the Hours that is prayed in monastic communities on most nights of the year; H. on all nights when the Great Apodeipnon is not planned. If vigils are held on Sunday night or before festivals , the Little Apodeipnon is either read privately or left out entirely.
In structure, it essentially corresponds to the third part of the Great Apodeipnon, only the two psalms of the psalmody of the third part are completed by adding Psalm 50 (51) from the psalmody of the second part of the Great Apodeipnon to form a group of three, and the creed from the first Part is connected to doxology.
The great apodeipnon
The Great Apodeipnon is held on the following occasions:
- On the night before some Great Feasts ( Nativity , Theophania and Annunciation ), as part of the Vigil.
- On Tuesday and Thursday in the week before Great Lent .
- Mondays to Fridays in the weeks of the Great Lent (with a few exceptions).
- On Monday and Tuesday the Holy and High Week (Holy Week).
- Monday to Friday during the smaller fasting periods ( Apostle fasting , Marienfasten , Philip fasting ) - but in some places only during the first night of the respective fasting period.
Small apodeipnon | Great apodeipnon |
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PART I | |
Entrance blessing | Entrance blessing |
psalmody
In the first week of the Great Lent, Psalm 69 (70) and the Penitential Canon (Great Canon) of Saint Andrew of Crete are sung at the beginning of the psalmody (in four parts, Monday to Thursday). |
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Song of praise according to the prophet Isaiah "With us is God" (Isa 8.9) |
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Evening tropariums "After this day has passed" |
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Triadic hymn "The incorporeal nature, the cherubim, glorify you" |
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Creed | |
Invocation of the Holy "All Holy Mistress, Theotokos of God, pray for us sinners." Each verse of the petitions is sung twice alternately between two choirs - while one choir sings, the other bows. |
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Trisagion and Our Father | |
Daily troparion and theotokion On festive days the festival troparion of the day is sung, for the weekdays there are two groups of troparions in the horologion, which are sung alternately. |
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Closing prayers
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PART II | |
psalmody
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psalmody
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Trisagion and Our Father | |
Repentance troparia and theotokion "Have mercy on us, O Lord" On feast days, the condakion of the feast is sung. |
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Closing prayers
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III. PART | |
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psalmody
Psalm 69 (70) is omitted here if it was recited in Part I. |
Doxology |
Doxology
If the Great Apodeipnon is part of the Vigil, it ends here and continues with the Litia . |
Creed | |
canon
Canon of the day or the Theotokos Axion estin |
canon
Canon of the day or the Theotokos Axion estin |
Trisagion and Our Father | Trisagion and Our Father |
Tropariums and Theotokion
On feast days only the condacion of the feast is sung, on Saturdays the hypakoï of Sunday. On other days, the troparion of the patron saint of the church, the troparion from the Menaeon or, if there is none, the corresponding troparion from the Horologion. |
Psalm 150 with refrain “Lord of hosts, be with us!” Troparion and Theotokion On feast days and Fridays of the Great Lent, the condacion of the day is sung instead of Psalm 150. |
Closing prayers
During Lent, the prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian is inserted here.
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Closing prayers
During Lent, the prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian is inserted here.
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Discharge |
Discharge
On holidays and Fridays, the discharge corresponds to that of Little Apodeipnon - on the other days a longer closing prayer with bowing the head is planned. |
Mutual forgiveness and ectenia |
Mutual forgiveness and ectenia
In monasteries, a longer prayer often follows, but the monks and nuns often pray in their cells after the service. |
literature
- Job Grectcha: The Typikon Decoded. An Explanation of Byzantine Liturgical Practice (= The Orthodox Liturgy Series . No. 3). St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, New York 2012, ISBN 978-0-88141-412-7 , pp. 92-94
- Sergius Heitz (Ed.): Mysterium of Adoration. Divine Liturgy and Liturgy of the Hours of the Orthodox Church. Luthe, Cologne 1986, pp. 215-235
- Alexei Petrovich Malzew: Mesonyktion - Hours - Apodipnon In: Orthodox worship. Volume 2, No. 3. Fluhegg, Gersau 1997, pp. 171-232.