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.

construction

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
	PART I
Entrance blessing	Entrance blessing
	psalmody "Come let us adore" Psalms 4, 6, 12 (13) Psalms 24 (25), 30 (31), 90 (91) 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).
	Song of praise according to the prophet Isaiah "With us is God" (Isa 8.9)
	Evening tropariums "After this day has passed"
	Triadic hymn "The incorporeal nature, the cherubim, glorify you"
	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.
	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.
	Closing prayers Kyrie eleison (forty times) "More honored than the cherubim" Prayer of St. Basil "Lord, O Lord, who save us from every arrow that flies during the day"
	PART II
psalmody "Come let us adore" Psalm 50 (51)	psalmody "Come let us adore" Psalms 50 (51), 101 (102) Prayer of Manasseh (OrMan)
	Trisagion and Our Father
	Repentance troparia and theotokion "Have mercy on us, O Lord" On feast days, the condakion of the feast is sung.
	Closing prayers Kyrie eleison (forty times) "More honored than the cherubim" Prayer of the Holy Mandario "Lord, God the Father, All Ruler"
	III. PART
Psalms 69 (70), 142 (143)	psalmody "Come let us adore" Psalms 69 (70), 142 (143) 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 Kyrie eleison (forty times) "O Christ, our God, at all times" "More honored than the cherubim" During Lent, the prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian is inserted here. Prayer to the All Holy Theotokos by Paul Evergetis Prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ from Antiochus of Saba Prayer of Saint Joannikios	Closing prayers Kyrie eleison (forty times) "O Christ, our God, at all times" "More honored than the cherubim" During Lent, the prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian is inserted here. Prayer to the All Holy Theotokos by Paul Evergetis Prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ from Antiochus of Saba Prayer of Saint Joannikios
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.