Orthros

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The Orthros ( Greek ὄρθρος ) or Oútrenya ( Church Slavonic Оўтреня) is one of the hours of worship in the Byzantine rite of the Orthodox churches and the Eastern Catholic churches , which is held in the morning. Often the Orthros is also referred to as Matutin , as it has a number of similarities with this Hore of the Divine Office of the Western Church . Systematically, however, it does not correspond to this, but to Laudes .

He decides the four Nachtoffizien to which even the Hesperinos ( Vespers - Evening prayer at sunset), the Apodipnon ( Compline - prayer before going to bed, literally "after eating") include and Mesonyktikon (midnight prayer).

In monastic practice, the Orthros usually follows the midnight prayer and is also associated with the first hour (Prim). If vigils are celebrated in preparation for Sunday and major festivals of the church year, the Great Vespers, Orthros and the first hour of the vigil (Pannychis - “all-night celebration”) are combined, starting the evening before.

The Orthros usually also plays a major role for parish churches : In parishes of Russian tradition, for example, part of the Orthros is added to Vespers every Saturday evening and thus a (shortened) vigil is celebrated, whereas in parishes of Greek tradition the Orthros usually occurs on Sunday morning the Holy Liturgy is switched.

Individual evidence

  1. Sergius Heitz , Susanne Hausammann : Mysterium of Adoration . tape 1 - Divine Liturgy and Liturgy of the Hours of the Orthodox Church. Luthe, Cologne 1986, p. 58 .